大智度論 義疏通講 · 冊8Dazhidulun — Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa · Exposition Throughout · Vol. 8

Overview

"Praise of Practising in Faith" does not arise from the Buddha's words; it arises from a single thought of Śakra's. At that time Śakra Devānām Indra had this thought: 「若善男子、善女人得聞般若波羅蜜經耳者，是人於前世佛作功德，與善知識相隨」 tr. "If good men and good women have the prajñāpāramitā sūtra reach their ears, these people made merit under the buddhas of former lives and kept company with good friends"—merely to have the prajñā sūtra pass by the ear is already the proof of having made offerings to the buddhas in past lives; how much more to receive and uphold it, draw near to it, read it, recite it, rightly recollect it, and practise as it is taught! The eye of the chapter's name is set up right here: what this chapter praises is not the dharma of prajñā (the preceding chapter has already praised that), but the person who can have faith in prajñā—one who hears and is not startled, not terrified, not afraid; such a person's faith comes from the far distant past. Śāriputra then carries this one proof to its summit: of one who can have faith in the deep prajñā, 「當知是善男子、善女人如阿鞞跋致菩薩摩訶薩」 tr. "know that this good man or good woman is like an avaivartika bodhisattva-mahāsattva"; conversely, of one who disparages it in this life, 「當知是人前世亦呰毀深般若波羅蜜」 tr. "know that this person in a former life also disparaged the deep prajñāpāramitā"—faith and disparagement alike have a history behind them. Śakra thereupon utters words of worship: 「我禮般若波羅蜜！禮般若波羅蜜，是禮一切智。」 tr. "I worship prajñāpāramitā! To worship prajñāpāramitā is to worship omniscience." The Buddha confirms it and gives the reason: 「諸佛一切智皆從般若波羅蜜生，一切智即是般若波羅蜜。」 tr. "The omniscience of the buddhas is all born from prajñāpāramitā, and omniscience is prajñāpāramitā." One who wishes to abide in omniscience, who wishes to turn the wheel of the Dharma, who wishes to attain the fruits of the three vehicles, and so on up to one who wishes to gather together the Saṅgha of bhikṣus—all 「當習行般若波羅蜜」 tr. "should train in prajñāpāramitā". The whole chapter, seven rounds of sūtra and seven rounds of treatise spanning the two fascicles sixty-six and sixty-seven, unfolds in order from this one thought, this one act of worship, this one confirmation: first it proves whence faith comes, next it makes clear how training is practised, next it proves the prior signs by which one not yet predicted is near the prediction, turns into full practice and the two heaps of precious treasure and of purity, then enters upon hindrances and the Buddha's protection, the Buddha-eye and the prediction, and comes to its close where prajñā goes forth from the east and turns to the north, and the treasury of the Dharma is handed on to those who practise in faith in the latter age.

The three rounds of the First Part praise faith, make clear training, and prove the signs. Sūtra ① is Śakra's single thought and the Buddha's confirmation; treatise ① explains why Śakra could raise this thought—「釋提桓因是諸天主，利根、智勝、信佛法故，倍復增益；如火得風，愈更熾盛」 tr. "Śakra Devānām Indra is the lord of the gods; because his faculties are sharp, his wisdom superior, and he has faith in the Buddha-dharma, it is doubly increased, like fire that gets wind and blazes ever more fiercely"; it explains how hard faith is to come by—prajñā has no mark that can be grasped, and to be able to have faith in it is rare: 「如人空中種殖，是為甚難！」 tr. "It is like a person planting in the empty sky—this is very hard!" Ordinary people, abandoning this and grasping that, always have something to rely on, 「如尺蠖尋條，安前足，進後足，盡樹端，更無所依止，還歸本處」 tr. "like a inchworm following a twig: it sets down its front feet and advances its hind feet, and when it has reached the end of the tree and has nothing further to rely on, it returns to where it began"; the bodhisattva, not yet having attained the path, can nevertheless cultivate merit and give up desire where there is nothing to rely on, and so one knows that his faith comes from 「久行六波羅蜜，大集諸福德」 tr. "having long practised the six perfections and greatly gathered merits"; again it uses the simile of wool to judge whether faith is firm or brittle—「譬如新劈乾毳，隨風東西；濕毳緤緻，則不可動」 tr. "It is like freshly split dry wool, which goes east and west with the wind; wet wool, densely felted, cannot be moved": one who has newly aroused the mind follows what other people say, while one who has long cultivated merit is not moved; as for why one who disparages it and falls into hell should come to hear prajñā again, the treatise lists the accounts of three schools and records them side by side (returning once the sin is finished; accumulated karma not yet thick; 「五逆罪，次後身必受」 tr. "the five heinous sins are necessarily received in the very next body", while other sins are not fixed), preserving them without deciding. In sūtra ② Śakra asks about abiding and about training, and the Buddha answers along one single path, 「不住」 tr. "not abiding": 「若不住色中，為習行般若波羅蜜」 tr. "If one does not abide in form, that is training in prajñāpāramitā"; not abiding in the six perfections, in inner emptiness and so on up to the eighteen unshared dharmas—in each of them, not abiding in it is training; and it turns one level further—「菩薩摩訶薩不習色，若不習色，是名習色」 tr. "The bodhisattva-mahāsattva does not train in form; if he does not train in form, this is called training in form". Why is it so? 「色前際不可得、中際不可得、後際不可得」 tr. "The prior limit of form is unfindable, its middle limit is unfindable, its later limit is unfindable." Śāriputra, hearing this, praises it three times: very deep, hard to fathom, immeasurable; round after round the Buddha answers with form—「色如甚深故，般若波羅蜜甚深」 tr. "Because the suchness of form is very deep, prajñāpāramitā is very deep"; and at once he takes it away again: 「不行色甚深，為行般若波羅蜜」 tr. "Not practising the depth of form is practising prajñāpāramitā", 「色甚深相為非色」 tr. "the mark of the depth of form is not form". Treatise ②'s explanation of the meaning of very deep has the most savour: 「如雨渧渧，不名甚深；和合眾流，入於大海，乃名甚深」 tr. "Rain, drop by drop, is not called very deep; when it comes together as the many streams and enters the great sea, only then is it called very deep"; yet deep and shallow are not fixed—「譬如水深淺無定，若於小兒則深，長者則淺」 tr. "It is like water, whose depth and shallowness are not fixed: to a small child it is deep, to a grown man it is shallow"; to ordinary people, to those who have newly aroused the mind, and to the lazy it is very deep; to the avaivartika who has long accumulated virtue it is shallow; as for the buddhas, 「於一切法無有深者，得無礙解脫故」 tr. "among all dharmas there is none that is deep to them, because they have attained unobstructed liberation". Therefore Śāriputra's saying 「不應在新發意菩薩前說」 tr. "it should not be spoken before a bodhisattva who has newly aroused the mind" is not a begrudging of the Dharma; it is the protecting of a small child—「譬如深水，不應使小兒渡，應教大人令渡」 tr. "It is like deep water: one should not have a small child cross it; one should teach a grown man to cross it". In sūtra ③ Śakra asks whether there is anyone who has not yet received the prediction and yet can hear it and not be startled or terrified; Śāriputra answers that there is, and that such a one 「受阿耨多羅三藐三菩提記不久，不過一佛、兩佛」 tr. "will receive the prediction of anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi before long, within no more than one buddha or two buddhas"; he then speaks the dream simile and the similes of the four kinds of prior signs—if cultivating the six perfections even in a dream is already near to awakening, how much more when awake; as one crossing a wilderness on a dangerous road first sees herdsmen, boundary marks, and gardens, and knows that the city and town are not far; as where the great sea lies the ground is level, without trees and without mountains, and one knows that the sea is not far; as in early spring, when the old leaves have already fallen, one knows that flowers and fruit will come before long; as a woman with child, the prior signs having already appeared, knows that the birth will come before long—to hear the deep prajñā, to receive and uphold it, and so on up to rightly recollecting it, is itself the prior sign of being near the prediction. Subhūti, hearing the Buddha's confirmation, praises him that he 「善付諸菩薩摩訶薩事」 tr. "entrusts well the affairs of the bodhisattva-mahāsattvas"; the Buddha tells how the bodhisattva practises himself and also teaches others to practise: the four means of gathering (giving, kind speech, beneficial action, and shared endeavour), the ten wholesome paths, the dhyānas, the six perfections, teaching beings to attain the fruits of the three vehicles while 「自於內不證」 tr. "he himself does not realise them within", and so on up to turning the wheel of the Dharma himself and also teaching others to turn the wheel of the Dharma. Treatise ③ gathers the proof of faith into one simile—「如吞鉤之魚，雖復遊戲池中，當知出在不久」 tr. "Like a fish that has swallowed the hook: though it still plays in the pond, know that it will be out before long"; it matches the simile of the dangerous road word by word: the 「險道」 tr. "dangerous road" is the world, the hundred yojanas up to the four hundred yojanas are matched to the three realms and the grounds of the two vehicles, the 「聚落」 tr. "village" is the compliant acceptance of dharmas, the 「邑」 tr. "town" is the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas, the 「城」 tr. "city" is anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi, the 「賊」 tr. "bandits" are the sixty-two wrong views, the 「惡蟲」 tr. "evil insects" are the afflictions of craving and hatred—「以麁喻細，以世間喻出世間」 tr. "using the coarse as a simile for the subtle, using the worldly as a simile for the world-transcending"; it explains the meaning of entrusting well: the Buddha, with the affairs of the bodhisattva, 「寄付阿難、彌勒等」 tr. "entrusted them to Ānanda, Maitreya, and others"; it explains the teaching of peace and security—「眾生著常，教無常；著樂者，教苦；著實者，教空；著我者，教無我」 tr. "Beings attached to permanence are taught impermanence; those attached to pleasure are taught suffering; those attached to the real are taught emptiness; those attached to self are taught non-self", 「如服苦藥，當時雖苦，後得除患」 tr. "like taking bitter medicine: though it is bitter at the time, afterwards one is rid of the illness"; and its last sentence points out the mind of the entrusting: 「是故我以慈悲心故善付是菩薩事，不以愛著故。」 tr. "Therefore it is out of a mind of kindness and compassion that I entrust well these affairs of the bodhisattva, not out of attached affection."

The four rounds of the Last Part first make clear fullness and the precious treasure, next hindrances and the Buddha's protection, then the Dharma's turning to the north, and end with the vow and the obtaining of the sūtra. Sūtra ④ asks how one fully practises prajñā; the Buddha answers 「不見色增相，亦不見色減相」 tr. "He sees no mark of increase in form, nor any mark of decrease in form", nor does he see dharma or non-dharma, the three times, wholesome or unwholesome, conditioned or unconditioned, the three realms, the six perfections, and so on up to omniscience of all kinds—why? 「諸法無相故，諸法空、欺誑、不堅固，無覺者、無壽者故」 tr. "Because dharmas are signless; because dharmas are empty, deceptive, not firm, without a perceiver, without a life"; it turns into the inconceivable—「色不可思議故，所說不可思議」 tr. "Because form is inconceivable, what is spoken is inconceivable", and yet of one who knows that form is inconceivable and abides within this inconceivability, 「是菩薩則不能具足般若波羅蜜」 tr. "this bodhisattva, then, cannot fully practise prajñāpāramitā"; who will have faith in and understand so deep a dharma? One who has 「久行六波羅蜜、種善根、多親近供養諸佛、與善知識相隨」 tr. "long practised the six perfections, planted roots of goodness, drawn near to and made offerings to many buddhas, and kept company with good friends"—and the meaning of long lies not in years but in not discriminating form, the mark of form, the nature of form, and so on up to omniscience of all kinds; Subhūti thereupon praises the two heaps: 「是般若波羅蜜珍寶聚」 tr. "This prajñāpāramitā is the heap of precious treasure"—the treasures of the fruits of the three vehicles, the treasures of the dhyānas and of the knowledges, are all within it; 「色清淨故，般若波羅蜜清淨聚」 tr. "Because form is pure, prajñāpāramitā is the heap of purity". Treatise ④ explains fullness—「若菩薩於一切法不分別是法、是非法，悉皆是法；如大海水，百川萬流，皆合一味」 tr. "If the bodhisattva, among all dharmas, does not discriminate ‘this is dharma, this is non-dharma’, then all are dharma—like the water of the great sea, where a hundred rivers and ten thousand streams all merge into a single taste"; it explains that the fault of the inconceivable lies in this: 「取不可思議相故」 tr. "because one grasps at the mark of the inconceivable"; it explains the meaning of long by citing Subhūti's words: 「菩薩雖日月年歲不久，能如是行，是名久」 tr. "Though the bodhisattva's days, months, and years are not long, if he can practise thus, this is called long"; it explains the distinction between nature and mark—「是相積習成性；譬如人瞋，日習不已，則成惡性」 tr. "This mark, accumulated by habit, becomes a nature; as when a person is angry, and practising it daily without ceasing, it becomes an evil nature", 「如見烟知火，烟是火相，而非火也」 tr. "as, seeing smoke, one knows there is fire: smoke is the mark of fire, yet it is not fire"; it explains the precious treasure—the fruit of srota-āpanna is treasure 「能滅三結惡毒故」 tr. "because it can destroy the evil poison of the three fetters", and so on up to unsurpassed awakening, which 「能滿一切願」 tr. "can fulfil every wish"; it explains the heap of purity and anticipates the difficulty of the text below: 「如如意寶珠無有瑕穢，如虛空無有塵垢」 tr. "like the wish-fulfilling jewel, which has no flaw or blemish; like space, which has no dust or dirt", and yet people of themselves raise wrong views and wish to make hindrances and destroy it, 「譬如人眼翳，見妙珍寶，謂為不淨」 tr. "like a person with a cataract in the eye who, seeing a wondrous precious jewel, calls it impure". In sūtra ⑤ hindrances formally make their entrance: Subhūti exclaims 「說是般若波羅蜜時，多有留難」 tr. "When this prajñāpāramitā is spoken, there are many hindrances"; the Buddha confirms it and teaches quickness—writing, reading and reciting, and cultivating all 「應當疾書」 tr. "should be written quickly" and accomplished quickly; 「若能一月書成，當應勤書」 tr. "if one can finish writing it in a month, one should write it diligently", and so on up to a year, 「是珍寶中多有難起故」 tr. "because within this precious treasure many difficulties arise"; though the evil Māra wishes to hinder, 「亦不能破壞是菩薩摩訶薩書般若波羅蜜乃至修行」 tr. "he still cannot destroy this bodhisattva-mahāsattva's writing of prajñāpāramitā, and so on up to his cultivating it"; by whose power? 「是佛力故」 tr. "It is by the Buddha's power", and it is also by the power of the buddhas now present in the ten directions; the practitioner should think: 「我書是深般若波羅蜜乃至修行，皆是十方諸佛力」 tr. "My writing this deep prajñāpāramitā, and so on up to my cultivating it, is all by the power of the buddhas of the ten directions"; the buddhas of the ten directions 「皆識、皆以佛眼見」 tr. "all know, and all see with the Buddha-eye" these good men and good women, and the merit of their offerings 「終不墮惡道中，乃至阿鞞跋致地，終不遠離諸佛」 tr. "will never fall into the evil destinies; and so on up to the ground of the avaivartika, they will never be far from the buddhas". Treatise ⑤ first defines—「留難者，魔事等壞般若波羅蜜因緣」 tr. "Hindrances are the deeds of Māra and the like, the causes and conditions that ruin prajñāpāramitā"; it explains why one must be quick: the sūtra scrolls of the prajñā family are some many and some few (「光讚、放光、道行」 tr. "the Praise of Light, the Emission of Light, the Practice of the Way"), 「人身無常，有為法不可信」 tr. "the human body is impermanent, and conditioned dharmas cannot be trusted", and the evil age has many difficulties, so let there be no abandoning of it midway; it explains the source of hindrances: 「世間以珍寶故，多有賊出；般若即是大珍寶故，多有留難」 tr. "In the world, because of precious things, many bandits appear; prajñā is the great precious treasure, and so there are many hindrances"; it enumerates the marks of difficulty—when one writes, Māra troubles body and mind; when one reads and recites, 「師徒不和合」 tr. "teacher and disciple are not in harmony"; when one expounds, someone slanders the Dharma teacher; when one rightly recollects, 「魔作好身，若善知識身」 tr. "Māra takes on a fine body, such as the body of a good friend" and says 「般若波羅蜜空，可即取涅槃」 tr. "prajñāpāramitā is empty; you may take nirvāṇa at once"; it explains why Māra cannot ruin it—「大能破小故」 tr. "because the great can break the small", 「般若波羅蜜是真智慧，其力甚大；魔事虛誑」 tr. "prajñāpāramitā is true wisdom, and its power is very great; the deeds of Māra are false and deceptive"; though the bodhisattva is not yet complete, 「得其氣分故，魔不能壞」 tr. "because he has obtained a share of its breath, Māra cannot ruin him"; it explains why the Buddha protects—「般若波羅蜜是十方諸佛母，人欲沮壞，不得不護」 tr. "prajñāpāramitā is the mother of the buddhas of the ten directions; when someone wishes to ruin it, they cannot but protect it"; from the one phrase ‘the Buddha-eye’ it raises four rounds of question and answer and judges the bounds of the five eyes—「法眼入佛眼中，但見諸法，不見眾生；慧眼入佛眼中，不見法，但見畢竟空」 tr. "When the Dharma-eye enters into the Buddha-eye, it sees only dharmas and does not see beings; when the wisdom-eye enters into the Buddha-eye, it does not see dharmas but sees only ultimate emptiness"; the divine eye included in the Buddha-eye sees the beings of the three times without limit and without measure; and the praise of the bodhisattva here 「為世諦故說，非第一義諦」 tr. "is spoken for the sake of worldly truth, not of the truth of the highest meaning". Sūtra ⑥ is the prediction of prajñā's passage through the world: 「佛般涅槃後，當至南方國土」 tr. "After the Buddha's parinirvāṇa, it will go to the lands of the south", 「從南方當轉至西方所在處」 tr. "from the south it will pass on to where it is in the west", 「從西方當轉至北方所在處」 tr. "from the west it will pass on to where it is in the north", at which time 「北方當作佛事」 tr. "the north will do the work of the Buddha"—「我法盛時，無有滅相」 tr. "When my Dharma flourishes, it has no mark of extinction"; later, though in the north there will be many who seek the Buddha's path, 「少有善男子、善女人聞是深般若波羅蜜不沒、不驚、不怖、不畏」 tr. "few will be the good men and good women who hear this deep prajñāpāramitā and are not sunk, not startled, not terrified, not afraid"; the roots of goodness of these few are pure and thick, they are of one mind and in harmony, and Māra cannot thwart their minds. Treatise ⑥ explains the road of its passage through the world—「佛出東方」 tr. "The Buddha appeared in the east", where he spoke prajñā and delivered immeasurable beings, and then passed into extinction beneath the twin trees; prajñā thereupon, 「如日月、五星、二十八宿，常從東方至南方」 tr. "like the sun and moon, the five planets, and the twenty-eight lunar mansions, always goes from the east to the south", moving in a circuit to the right, 「圍繞須彌山」 tr. "circling Mount Sumeru", and delivering the people of Jambudvīpa everywhere; 「如佛無著心故，不定一處；般若波羅蜜亦如是，不定住一處」 tr. "As the Buddha, because his mind is without attachment, is not fixed in one place, so too prajñāpāramitā is not fixed to abide in one place"; it explains the north doing the work of the Buddha—「佛滅後，過五百歲，正法漸滅，是時佛事轉難」 tr. "After the Buddha's extinction, when five hundred years have passed, the true Dharma gradually declines, and at that time the work of the Buddha becomes harder"; those of sharp faculties read, recite, and rightly recollect, those of dull faculties write it out and make offerings, and both kinds of people, after a long, long time, are all delivered; it explains why it spreads widely in the north—「北方地有雪山，雪山冷故，藥草能殺諸毒」 tr. "In the lands of the north there are the snowy mountains; because the snowy mountains are cold, the medicinal herbs can kill all poisons"; with food of rice and grain the three poisons cannot break out greatly, beings are pliant, and the five faculties gain strength; those who practise in faith in the latter age teach one another and pass it on one to another, 「如然一燈，展轉皆然」 tr. "as when one lamp is lit, one from another they are all lit", 「魔是欲界主，尚不能沮壞，何況惡行人」 tr. "Māra is the lord of the desire realm, and even he cannot thwart it—how much less people of evil conduct". Sūtra ⑦ gathers everything into the vow: these good men and good women make a vow before the Buddha and before the buddhas of the past—「我行菩薩道時，當度無數百千萬億眾生」 tr. "When I practise the bodhisattva path, I shall deliver countless hundreds of thousands of myriads of koṭi of beings", causing them to arouse the mind of awakening, and showing, teaching, benefiting, and gladdening them; such a person is one 「所為心大」 tr. "whose mind in what he does is great", 「能大施已，種大善根；種大善根已，得大果報」 tr. "having been able to give greatly, he plants great roots of goodness; having planted great roots of goodness, he obtains a great result", and he vows to be born where the buddhas now present in other quarters are speaking prajñā; Śāriputra asks why, among those in the future age who diligently seek the six perfections, some obtain them and some do not; the Buddha answers: 「一心精進勤求，當得應六波羅蜜諸經」 tr. "Seeking diligently with one mind and with vigour, they will obtain the sūtras that accord with the six perfections". Treatise ⑦ explains the great mind—one whose merit is mixed gives rise to doubt and regret in his mind when making merit, and though the result is wealth and nobility he cannot use it well; one whose merit is pure can give up to the full extent of his intention, and on hearing the Dharma his mind of attachment to desire comes to rest, and he 「倍加精進」 tr. "redoubles his vigour"; it explains obtaining and not obtaining—those who obtain 「不惜身命」 tr. "do not spare body or life", 「內有好心，外諸佛菩薩及諸天所護助故」 tr. "because within they have a good mind, and without they are protected and helped by the buddhas, the bodhisattvas, and the gods"; and the last sentence of the whole chapter says out to the full the reverse side of practising in faith: 「若悋惜法，則常生邊地無佛法處。」 tr. "If one begrudges the Dharma, one is ever born in a border land where there is no Buddha-dharma."

For the whole chapter the sūtra and the treatise advance in alternation, seven rounds each; by the boundary of the fascicles it is divided into two arcs, the First Part and the Last Part, and the head of the Last Part's fascicle carries the continued title 「之餘」 tr. "the remainder". The three rounds of the First Part gather the proofs of faith—the affinity from the past of having the sūtra reach one's ears, to worship prajñā is to worship omniscience, not abiding is training, the three praises and three takings-away, the four similes of the prior signs for one not yet predicted, entrusting well and the four means of gathering; the four rounds of the Last Part gather the uses of faith—fullness that sees neither increase nor decrease, the two heaps of precious treasure and of purity, hindrances and writing quickly, the Buddha's power and the Buddha-eye, prajñā going forth from the east and turning to the north, making the vow and obtaining the deep sūtra. The First Part proves whence faith comes; the Last Part tells what faith can bring about: faith comes out of long practice, and so one hears and is not startled; faith goes toward the Buddha's protection, and so difficulties cannot ruin it—within one chapter, 「信」 tr. "faith" is spoken all the way from a single thought of hearing to the passing on of the lamp in the latter age.

Therefore, in reading each round of question and answer, one can ask at least three layers of questions. First, what is this round proving—is it proving the past (those who have the sūtra reach their ears made offerings to the buddhas in former lives; those who disparage it disparaged it in former lives), proving the present (not abiding is training; not discriminating is being long practised), or proving the future (the four similes of the prior signs, receiving the prediction before long, the north doing the work of the Buddha)? The one word faith runs through all three times. Second, where does the force of each simile lie—dry wool and wet wool judge whether faith is firm or brittle; planting in the empty sky and the inchworm following a twig make clear the difficulty of having nothing to rely on; the fish that has swallowed the hook and the prior signs in the wilderness prove the season of nearness to the prediction; raindrops and the many streams, and water without a fixed depth, tell the meaning of very deep; bandits appearing because of precious things tells the source of hindrances; lamps lit one from another tells the continuity of passing on the Dharma—which layer of proof does each establish? Third, how are praising the person and praising the Dharma not two—the chapter explicitly praises the person who practises in faith, yet phrase after phrase it is still prajñā: to worship prajñā is to worship omniscience; to protect the practitioner is in truth to protect prajñā (「般若波羅蜜是十方諸佛母」 tr. "prajñāpāramitā is the mother of the buddhas of the ten directions"); the one who does the work of the Buddha in the north is prajñā doing it, not a person. Read on along these seven rounds of dialogue, and one will come at last to the same place: the person who can have faith is praiseworthy precisely because the dharma in which he has faith has no mark that can be grasped—「如人空中種殖」 tr. "like a person planting in the empty sky"; what can be planted there is practising in faith.

Reading On in the Order of the Treatise

Praise of Practising in Faith, First Part: Those Who Hear Prajñā and Can Have Faith Planted the Roots of Virtue Long Ago; To Worship Prajñā Is to Worship Omniscience; Not Abiding, Not Training; Four Similes for the Prior Signs of the Prediction; Entrusting Well the Affairs of the Bodhisattvas

What Is Being Asked

The chapter title is 「歎信行」 tr. "praise of practising in faith", and what it praises is the person who practises in faith. The First Part, a single unit, opens with one thought of Śakra: if a person gets to hear prajñā so that it 「經耳」 tr. "reaches the ears", this person has already made merit under the buddhas of former lives and kept company with good friends—if hearing is so, how much more receiving and upholding it, reading and reciting it, and practising as it is taught! Śāriputra then traces the two roads of faith and disparagement together back to former lives: one who can hear and is not startled or terrified is 「如阿鞞跋致」 tr. "like an avaivartika", and one who disparages also disparaged in a former life; Śakra therefore speaks out, 「我禮般若波羅蜜！禮般若波羅蜜，是禮一切智」 tr. "I worship prajñāpāramitā! To worship prajñāpāramitā is to worship omniscience", and the Buddha confirms it—the omniscience of the buddhas is all born from prajñā; one who wishes to abide in omniscience, and so on up to gathering together the whole bhikṣu Saṅgha, should train in prajñā. From here Śakra presses on to ask about the gate of practice: how does one abide, how does one train? The Buddha answers with a single road of 「不住」 tr. "not abiding": not abiding in form is training in prajñā, and so on up to not abiding in the eighteen unshared dharmas is training in the eighteen unshared dharmas; not training in form is called training in form, the reason being that form in the three times is unfindable. Śāriputra praises three times—very deep, hard to fathom, immeasurable—and each time the Buddha responds with form and all dharmas, and then turns one level further: not practising the depth of form is what practising prajñā is; therefore the very deep Dharma should not be spoken before those who have newly aroused the mind, and those who disparage it and do not believe plant the karma of the three evil destinies. Śakra asks again: among those who have not received the prediction, is there anyone who hears and is not startled or terrified? The answer: there is, and this person will receive the prediction before long—Śāriputra first points out that practising the six perfections in a dream is already near to awakening, how much more when awake; then gives four similes in a row as proof: one crossing a dangerous road who sees herdsmen, boundary marks, and gardens knows that the town is not far; one heading for the great sea who sees level ground without trees or mountains knows that the sea is not far; in early spring the old leaves fall, and one knows that flowers and fruit are about to come forth; a woman with child, when the prior signs are seen, is known to give birth before long. At the end Subhūti praises the 「善付菩薩事」 tr. "entrusting well of the affairs of the bodhisattvas", and the Buddha speaks at length of the bodhisattva's four means of gathering and ten wholesome paths, of practising himself and teaching others, and so on up to turning the wheel of the Dharma. Where faith comes from, what marks the one who has faith, how one practises, what verifies the one who practises—these four layers of the First Part are exactly the unfolding of the three Chinese characters rendered here as ‘praise of practising in faith’.

Passage by Passage

1. Śakra thinks that those whose ears prajñā reaches planted the roots of virtue long ago. At the opening Śakra Devānām Indra has this thought: if good men and good women 「得聞般若波羅蜜經耳者，是人於前世佛作功德，與善知識相隨」 tr. "get to hear prajñāpāramitā so that it reaches their ears, these people made merit under the buddhas of former lives and kept company with good friends", how much more those who receive and uphold it, draw near to it, read it, recite it, rightly recollect it, and practise as it is taught! Know that these people have drawn near to many buddhas, and can listen, receive, practise as it is taught, ask, and answer; because in former lives they made offerings to and drew near to many buddhas, on hearing this deep prajñā they are 「不驚、不怖、不畏」 tr. "not startled, not terrified, not afraid"; and for immeasurable koṭi of kalpas they have also practised the six perfections. Within a single thought there are three 「當知」 tr. "know that"s, reasoning back from today's hearing to the practice of former lives—hearing the Dharma is no accidental matter; the one phrase ‘reaching the ears’ is already the present working of a cause from former lives.

2. Śāriputra says that the two roads of faith and disparagement both come from former lives. Śāriputra says to the Buddha: of one who hears the deep prajñā and is not startled or terrified, and having heard receives and upholds it and trains as it is taught, 「當知是善男子、善女人如阿鞞跋致菩薩摩訶薩」 tr. "know that this good man or good woman is like an avaivartika bodhisattva-mahāsattva"; prajñā is very deep, and if in former lives one had not long practised the six perfections, one 「終不能信解深般若波羅蜜」 tr. "could never have faith in and understand the deep prajñāpāramitā". Conversely, of one who disparages it in this life, 「當知是人前世亦呰毀深般若波羅蜜」 tr. "know that this person in a former life also disparaged the deep prajñāpāramitā"—when such a person hears the Dharma there is no faith and no delight, and the mind is not pure, precisely because in former lives he did not ask and did not question the buddhas and their disciples: how does one practise the six perfections, cultivate 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? Faith and disparagement each have their history, and neither thread begins in this life.

3. Śakra states the reason for unbelief—I worship prajñā, and this is to worship omniscience. Śakra says to Śāriputra: as for this deep prajñā, if a person has not long practised the six perfections, does not practise inner emptiness and so on up to the emptiness of non-existent and existent dharmas, does not practise the four dhyānas, the four immeasurable minds, and the four formless absorptions, does not practise the four foundations of mindfulness and so on up to the eight limbs of the noble path, does not practise the ten powers of the Buddha and so on up to the eighteen unshared dharmas—「如是人不信解是深般若波羅蜜，有何可怪！」 tr. "that such a person does not have faith in and understand this deep prajñāpāramitā—what is there to wonder at!" Unbelief is not the fault of prajñā; it is the ordinary state of one whose power of practice is not yet full. At once he turns out the first praise-worship of this chapter: 「大德舍利弗！我禮般若波羅蜜！禮般若波羅蜜，是禮一切智。」 tr. "Venerable One Śāriputra! I worship prajñāpāramitā! To worship prajñāpāramitā is to worship omniscience." From explaining the reason for unbelief, it turns into the worship of one who can have faith.

4. The Buddha confirms it—omniscience is prajñā; one who wishes to gain the fruits should train in prajñā. The Buddha tells Śakra: 「如是！如是！憍尸迦！禮般若波羅蜜，是禮一切智。」 tr. "Just so! Just so! Kauśika! To worship prajñāpāramitā is to worship omniscience." The causes and conditions are that 「諸佛一切智皆從般若波羅蜜生，一切智即是般若波羅蜜」 tr. "the omniscience of the buddhas is all born from prajñāpāramitā, and omniscience is prajñāpāramitā". Therefore one who wishes to abide in omniscience should abide in prajñā; one who wishes to give rise to knowledge of the kinds of paths, to cut off all fetters together with their residual habits, and to turn the wheel of the Dharma should train in prajñā; one who wishes to gain the fruit of srota-āpanna and so on up to the fruit of arhat and the path of the pratyekabuddha, who wishes to teach beings to gain the fruits and so on up to anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi, who wishes to gather together the whole bhikṣu Saṅgha—all should train in prajñā. The realisation of the fruits of the three vehicles, training in oneself and transforming others, holding the Saṅgha together—all of it is gathered back into the one phrase ‘practise prajñā’: prajñā is the mother of all the fruits, and to worship it is to worship their source.

5. The treatise explains why Śakra aroused this mind—the simile of dry wool and wet wool. The treatise-author explains: Śakra is lord of the gods, and 「利根、智勝、信佛法故，倍復增益；如火得風，愈更熾盛」 tr. "because his faculties are sharp, his wisdom superior, and he has faith in the Buddha-dharma, it increases twice over; like fire that gets the wind, it blazes all the more". Having heard Subhūti praise prajñā by all kinds of causes and conditions, and the Buddha complete that praise with deep principle, he aroused a rare mind: because of offerings made to the buddhas in former lives and the condition of good friends in this life, one who hears prajñā can have faith; this person has for immeasurable asaṃkhyeya kalpas practised the six perfections and other merits, and so, though he has not yet attained the ground of the avaivartika, he does not doubt and does not regret in the deep Dharma. The simile says: 「譬如新劈乾毳，隨風東西；濕毳緤緻，則不可動。」 tr. "It is like freshly split dry wool, which goes east and west with the wind; wet wool, densely felted, cannot be moved." A bodhisattva who has newly aroused the mind, thin in merit, follows what others say, like dry wool with the wind; one who has long cultivated merit does not follow what others say, like wet wool, tight and dense, unmoving—whether the power of faith is firm or brittle depends wholly on how thick or thin the accumulation is.

6. Śāriputra says to the Buddha—not yet having entered the bodhisattva position, yet no different from an avaivartika. While Śakra is reflecting on and thinking of the immeasurable merit of prajñā, Śāriputra knows what Śakra is thinking and says to the Buddha: good men and good women who, 「雖未入菩薩位，能信受深般若波羅蜜，不驚、不怖，如說修行」 tr. "though they have not yet entered the bodhisattva position, can have faith in and receive the deep prajñāpāramitā, are not startled, not terrified, and cultivate and practise as it is taught"—because of their great merit, wisdom, and power of faith, 「當知如阿鞞跋致無異」 tr. "know that they are like an avaivartika, no different". The rank has not yet been reached and yet faith and practice are already complete; the treatise-author specially records that Śāriputra utters this praise on behalf of the assembly—where the power of faith reaches, the rank can be granted in advance, and this is precisely the first level of praise in this chapter's praise of practising in faith.

7. Planting in the air and the simile of the inchworm—able to give up without anything to rely on: this is a rare thing. The treatise-author explains the causes and conditions the Buddha himself stated: prajñā is very deep; 「無相可取、可信、可受；若能信受，是為希有」 tr. "there is no mark that can be grasped, had faith in, or received; if one can have faith in it and receive it, this is rare", like a person planting in the air, which is exceedingly hard. When ordinary people gain a superior dharma they give up the thing they had—gaining the bliss of meditative absorption, they give up the pleasure of the five desires, and so on up to relying on the Summit of Existence and giving up the merits of the Sphere of Nothingness—they 「不能無所依止而有所捨」 tr. "cannot give something up without anything to rely on". It is like the inchworm following a twig: it sets down its front feet and moves up its back feet, and when it reaches the tip of the tree and there is nothing further to rely on, it goes back to where it started. That the bodhisattva who has not yet attained the path, in regard to prajñā, 「無所依止，而能修福德、捨五欲，是事希有」 tr. "without anything to rely on, can cultivate merit and give up the five desires—this is a rare thing"! The causes and conditions by which he can do so are still faith and receiving in former lives, long practice of the six perfections, and the great gathering of all merits.

8. Disparagement also comes from long habit; three explanations of how one who has fallen into hell and finished the penalty comes to hear prajñā again. The treatise-author explains the reverse side: 「與信相違，則毀呰般若波羅蜜。如厚福德者，從久積集；不信毀呰者，亦從久習。」 tr. "What is contrary to faith disparages prajñāpāramitā. As one of thick merit comes from long accumulation, so one who disbelieves and disparages also comes from long habit." Question: one who disparaged and slandered in a former life should fall into hell—by what condition does he come to hear prajñā again? The answer has three explanations: one explanation is that this person fell into hell, finished the penalty, and came back to disparage again, and it does not say this is the immediately following body; another explanation is that karma, when accumulated thick and heavy, can give its result, and this person, though he did not believe in a former life, had not yet accumulated thick karma and had not yet received its result, and 「以餘福德故生人中，續復不信」 tr. "because of remaining merit was born among humans, and still continues not to believe"; a third is that the five heinous offences must be received in the immediately following body, while other offences are not so—in the following body or in a body long after. Slander has its recompense, and hearing the Dharma has its condition; the three explanations stand side by side to reconcile them—the treatise-author records the various explanations and does not force a decision on one.

9. The explanation that the five heinous sins must be received in the immediately following body; Śakra concludes that unbelief is nothing to wonder at. Again, someone says: 「五逆罪，次後身必受；餘罪不爾，或次後身、或久後身。」 tr. "The five heinous sins are necessarily received in the immediately following body; other sins are not so—they may be received in the immediately following body, or in a body long after." The sin of slandering the Dharma is not among the fixed karma of the five heinous sins, so the recompense comes late or soon, and one whose recompense is late can still hear the Dharma in between. At that time Śakra says to Śāriputra: prajñā is 「畢竟空、無所有故甚深」 tr. "very deep because it is ultimate emptiness and without anything existent"; if a bodhisattva has not long practised merit, then his 「著心堅固、信力微弱」 tr. "attached mind is firm and his power of faith feeble", and that he does not believe in prajñā and so on up to omniscience—what is there to wonder at? The attached mind and the power of faith stand in inverse proportion—when attachment is firm, faith is weak; this is the pathology of unbelief, and it is also where the cultivation of faith sets to work.

10. Śakra utters the words of worshipping prajñā—to worship omniscience is to worship the buddhas of the three times and the ten directions. Śakra reflects and weighs it: 「信般若波羅蜜福德無量，不信者得罪深重。」 tr. "The merit of having faith in prajñāpāramitā is immeasurable; one who does not believe incurs deep and heavy sin." Because he deeply loves and reveres prajñā, he speaks out: I shall worship this prajñā! Why? 「禮般若波羅蜜，則為禮一切智；禮一切智者，則禮三世十方諸佛。」 tr. "To worship prajñāpāramitā is to worship omniscience; one who worships omniscience worships the buddhas of the three times and the ten directions." At that time the Buddha approves his words and further states the causes and conditions for praising prajñā: all the knowledge and wisdom of the buddhas is born from within prajñā, and so it says that one who wishes to abide in omniscience, and so on up to gathering together the whole bhikṣu Saṅgha, should train in prajñā. The reach of worship is pushed up layer by layer—prajñā, omniscience, the buddhas of the three times and the ten directions, three that are threaded as one; where one worships prajñā, one worships all the buddhas everywhere.

11. Śakra asks about the gate of practice—how does one abide, how does one train. At the opening of Sūtra ②, Śakra says to the Buddha: when a bodhisattva-mahāsattva wishes to practise prajñā, 「云何名住」 tr. "what is called abiding" in prajñāpāramitā, dhyāna, vīrya, kṣānti, śīla, and dānapāramitā? How does one abide in inner emptiness and so on up to the emptiness of non-existent and existent dharmas, in the four dhyānas, the four immeasurable minds, the four formless absorptions, and the five supernormal powers, in the four foundations of mindfulness and so on up to the eight limbs of the noble path, in the ten powers of the Buddha and so on up to the eighteen unshared dharmas? 「云何習行」 tr. "How does one train" prajñā and so on up to dānapāramitā, inner emptiness and so on up to the eighteen unshared dharmas? The passage above has already made clear that one should train in prajñā; this question presses 「當習」 tr. "one should train" into 「云何習」 tr. "how does one train"—turning from the exhortation to faith into the gate of practice, it is the pivot of the sūtra text of this unit.

12. The Buddha answers that not abiding is training—not abiding in form is training in prajñā; not training in form is called training in form. The Buddha first praises him, "Excellent!": 「汝能樂問是事，皆是佛神力！」 tr. "That you are able and glad to ask about this matter is all the Buddha's spiritual power!" Then he answers directly: if a bodhisattva 「不住色中，為習行般若波羅蜜」 tr. "does not abide in form, that is training in prajñāpāramitā", and not abiding in feeling, perception, constructions, and consciousness is likewise; so too with eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind, with forms, sounds, smells, tastes, tangibles, and dharmas, with the eye-element and so on up to the mind-consciousness element. Not abiding in prajñā is training in prajñā, and so it is with each of the six perfections; so it is with inner emptiness and so on up to the emptiness of non-existent and existent dharmas, with the four dhyānas and so on up to the five supernormal powers, with the four foundations of mindfulness and so on up to the eight limbs of the noble path, with the ten powers of the Buddha and so on up to the eighteen unshared dharmas. The causes and conditions are that 「不得色可住可習處」 tr. "one does not find in form a place where one can abide or train". Then it turns one level further: 「菩薩摩訶薩不習色，若不習色，是名習色」 tr. "the bodhisattva-mahāsattva does not train in form; if he does not train in form, this is called training in form"—searching through the three times, 「色前際不可得、中際不可得、後際不可得」 tr. "the prior limit of form is unfindable, its middle limit is unfindable, its later limit is unfindable". Not abiding is exactly training, not training in is exactly practising; here the gate of practice has no place to be seized, and everywhere is practice.

13. Śāriputra's first praise, very deep and hard to fathom—because the suchness of form is very deep, prajñā is very deep. Śāriputra says to the Buddha: 「是般若波羅蜜甚深！」 tr. "This prajñāpāramitā is very deep!" The Buddha says: 「色如甚深故，般若波羅蜜甚深」 tr. "because the suchness of form is very deep, prajñāpāramitā is very deep", and it is likewise because the suchness of feeling, perception, constructions, and consciousness is very deep, and so on up to the eighteen unshared dharmas. Śāriputra says again: 「是般若波羅蜜難可測量！」 tr. "This prajñāpāramitā is hard to fathom!" The depth of prajñā is not a separate depth apart from dharmas; it is deep in respect of the 「如」 tr. "suchness" of form and all dharmas—suchness is the real mark of all dharmas; the form the eye sees is not deep, the suchness of form is what is deep. The words of praise land on prajñā, and the Buddha turns them, one by one, to point at all dharmas: the depth lies not in the one who contemplates but in the real mark that is contemplated.

14. The two praises hard to fathom and immeasurable—because form is hard to fathom, prajñā is hard to fathom; because form is immeasurable, prajñā is immeasurable. The Buddha answers the praise of being hard to fathom: 「色難可測量故，般若波羅蜜難可測量」 tr. "because form is hard to fathom, prajñāpāramitā is hard to fathom", and it is likewise because feeling, perception, constructions, and consciousness, and so on up to the eighteen unshared dharmas, are hard to fathom. Śāriputra's third praise: 「世尊！是般若波羅蜜無量！」 tr. "World-Honored One! This prajñāpāramitā is immeasurable!" The Buddha says: 「色無量故，般若波羅蜜無量」 tr. "because form is immeasurable, prajñāpāramitā is immeasurable", and likewise because everything up to the eighteen unshared dharmas is immeasurable. The three praises—very deep, hard to fathom, immeasurable—are uniformly of one structure: the virtue of prajñā is the virtue of all dharmas; because every dharma is such, every dharma is deep—the three rounds of question and answer sung over one another teach one precisely to see prajñā in the one form, the one dharma right in front of one, and not to look for depth outside dharmas.

15. Not practising the very deep is practising prajñā—the mark of the very deep is not form. The Buddha tells Śāriputra: when a bodhisattva practises prajñā, 「不行色甚深，為行般若波羅蜜」 tr. "not practising the depth of form is practising prajñāpāramitā", and so on up to not practising the depth of the eighteen unshared dharmas, likewise. Why? 「色甚深相為非色」 tr. "The mark of the depth of form is not form"—if the mark of the very deep were set up as a fixed mark of form, that would no longer be the real mark of form. The two further layers, hard to fathom and immeasurable, follow the same pattern: not practising form's being hard to fathom, not practising form's being immeasurable, is practising prajñā; the mark of being hard to fathom and the mark of being immeasurable are both not form, and so on up to not the eighteen unshared dharmas. The earlier three praises were praise according to reality; these three negations examine the grasping of marks: to gain the praise and then cling to that praise turns the mark of depth into a new bond, and so even the mark of the very deep is not practised.

16. It should not be spoken before those who have newly aroused the mind—it should be spoken before the avaivartika. Śāriputra says to the Buddha: prajñā is very deep; 「甚深相難見、難解、不可思量，不應在新發意菩薩前說」 tr. "the mark of the very deep is hard to see, hard to understand, and not to be thought out or measured; it should not be spoken before bodhisattvas who have newly aroused the mind". Why? A bodhisattva who has newly aroused the mind, hearing this very deep prajñā, 「或當驚怖，心生疑悔，不信、不行」 tr. "may be startled and terrified, his mind giving rise to doubt and regret, and not believe and not practise". It should be spoken before avaivartika bodhisattvas; such a bodhisattva, hearing it, is 「不驚、不怖，心不疑悔，則能信行」 tr. "not startled, not terrified, his mind without doubt and regret, and so he can have faith and practise". The Dharma makes no selection, but hearers are fit or unfit, and the one who speaks the Dharma cannot but choose according to the capacity—when the very deep Dharma meets a capacity of shallow faith, not only is there no benefit, it becomes instead a condition of harm, and the passage below makes that fault clear.

17. The fault of speaking before those who have newly aroused the mind—disparaging and not believing plants the karma of the three evil destinies. Śakra asks Śāriputra: if this deep prajñā is spoken before bodhisattvas who have newly aroused the mind, 「有何等過」 tr. "what fault is there"? Śāriputra replies: a bodhisattva who has newly aroused the mind, hearing it, may be startled and terrified, disparage it, and not believe—「是新發意菩薩或有是處」 tr. "for this bodhisattva who has newly aroused the mind, this is possible"; if he disparages it and does not believe, he 「種三惡道業；是業因緣故，久久難得阿耨多羅三藐三菩提」 tr. "plants the karma of the three evil destinies; because of the causes and conditions of this karma, for a long, long time it is hard for him to attain anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi". The fault lies not in hearing but in disparaging—hearing and giving rise to disparagement, a single word slandering the Dharma completes the karma of the three evil destinies, and awakening moves farther away. To protect the root of faith of the new trainee is precisely to protect his road to awakening; it is not keeping the Dharma secret and withholding it.

18. The treatise explains Śakra's question and why the Buddha praises him, "Excellent!" The treatise-author explains: because Śakra has heard from the Buddha the praise of prajñā in full, he now asks the Buddha: how does a bodhisattva abide in prajñā, from dhyānapāramitā and so on up to the eighteen unshared dharmas? The Buddha's praise, "Excellent, excellent!", is 「以釋提桓因諸天中主，言必可信。問是事，斷大眾疑，通達無礙，能大利益」 tr. "because Śakra Devānām Indra is lord among the gods, his words are sure to be trusted. Asking about this matter cuts off the doubts of the great assembly, penetrates without obstruction, and can greatly benefit". Again, because Śakra 「能捨上妙五欲、七寶、宮殿，能問佛賢聖所行事」 tr. "can give up the supremely wondrous five desires, the seven jewels, and palaces, and can ask about the matters practised by buddhas, sages, and saints", for this reason the Buddha says "Excellent!" One praise, two reasons: from the side of the hearers, when the lord of the gods asks, the doubts of the assembly are cut off together; from the side of the one who asks, giving up desire to ask about the path, his mind is precious—"Excellent!" is not a courtesy but a confirmation from both sides, the capacity and the mind.

19. By the Buddha's spiritual power he can ask; by not abiding in form one can train—ordinary people cling to form and lose the path. The treatise-author explains 「以佛神力故，汝能樂問此事」 tr. "it is by the Buddha's spiritual power that you are able and glad to ask about this matter": in the assembly there were also supremely wondrous gods who beheld the Buddha's immeasurable spiritual virtue, yet now Śakra can consult the Buddha on the Buddha's matters in the midst of the great assembly, and so it is the Buddha's majestic spiritual power; as the Sūtra of Holding the Mind says: 「佛光明入身中，能問佛事。」 tr. "The Buddha's light enters into the body, and one can ask about the Buddha's matters." He also explains the Buddha's answer: a bodhisattva 「見色無常、苦等過罪，故不住色；若不住色，即是能習行般若波羅蜜」 tr. "sees the faults and wrongs of form—impermanence, suffering, and the rest—and so does not abide in form; if he does not abide in form, he is able to train in prajñāpāramitā". Ordinary people, 「見色著色故，起顛倒煩惱」 tr. "because they see form and cling to form, give rise to inverted afflictions", and lose this path of prajñā. For this reason, one who does not abide can train in prajñā; so too with the five aggregates, the twelve sense-fields, and the eighteen elements. The meaning of not abiding is first established from contemplating the faults—because one sees the faults one does not abide, and because one does not abide one does not lose.

20. The question of each of the six perfections training in its own practice—not clinging, one trains in purely. Question: why is it said that by not abiding in the six perfections and the rest, each trains in its own practice? Answer: 「是六波羅蜜等皆是善法行法」 tr. "these six perfections and the rest are all wholesome dharmas, dharmas of practice"; for this reason it speaks of not abiding in the six perfections and the rest as each training in its own practice; with the aggregates, the elements, and the sense-fields, it is training in prajñāpāramitā. If one does not cling in these dharmas, one cuts off loving attachment; 「斷愛著故，色等諸法中清淨習」 tr. "because loving attachment is cut off, in form and all dharmas one trains in purely". The wording of the sūtra text differs: of the six perfections it says not abiding in a given perfection is training in that perfection; of the aggregates, elements, and sense-fields it says not abiding is training in prajñā—wholesome dharmas can each be trained in respect of their own practice, while the aggregates, elements, and sense-fields serve only as the field contemplated by prajñā; yet the pivot is the same single not clinging, and because one does not cling one's training is pure.

21. The causes and conditions of not abiding and not training—training in form is called grasping at the mark of form. The treatise-author explains: here it states the causes and conditions of not abiding, 「所謂不得色等法住處，不得色等法習處」 tr. "namely, one does not find in form and other dharmas a place to abide, does not find in form and other dharmas a place to train". Again, because this matter is hard to understand, the Buddha further states the causes and conditions: 「不習色」 tr. "not training in form" means the bodhisattva sees the faults of form and so does not abide in form, and because he does not abide he does not practise it. 「習色」 tr. "Training in form" is called grasping at the mark of form, as permanent or as impermanent, and so on. Again, the bodhisattva constantly practises wholesome dharmas, right speech, right action, and the rest, 「積習純厚」 tr. "accumulating habit pure and thick", and so it is called practising form. The one word ‘train’ has two glosses: the habit of grasping at marks and discriminating is what is negated; the habit of accumulating wholesome dharmas is what is accomplished—the habit of grasping at marks is negated precisely to accomplish the habit of purity; do not misread ‘not training’ as abandoning practice.

22. Form in the three times is unfindable—contemplating dharmas as scattered and broken, not grasping at marks, is called being able to train in the real mark. The treatise-author explains the deep meaning of not training: now the bodhisattva, because he wishes to practise prajñā, 「散壞是色，不習」 tr. "scatters and breaks up this form, and does not train in it". Why? 「過去色已滅、未來色未有故不可習；現在色生時即滅故不住」 tr. "Past form has already ceased and future form does not yet exist, so they cannot be trained; present form ceases the moment it arises, so it does not abide"; if even abiding for one thought there is still no training, how much less when it ceases thought after thought? Therefore it states the causes and conditions of not training in form: 「三世色不可得。」 tr. "Form in the three times is unfindable." And so on up to the eighteen unshared dharmas, likewise. 「若能如是觀諸法散壞，不取相」 tr. "If one can in this way contemplate all dharmas as scattered and broken, and not grasp at marks", this is called 「能習色等諸法實相」 tr. "being able to train in the real mark of form and all dharmas". Not training to the very end turns over into being able to train—what is practised is not the mark of form but the real mark of form; the joint of the sūtra's words 「若不習色，是名習色」 tr. "if he does not train in form, this is called training in form" lies precisely in this turn.

23. The simile of raindrops and the great sea—form discriminated and entering what is as it really is, is therefore very deep. The treatise-author explains Śāriputra's praise: Śāriputra heard this meaning from the Buddha, 「歡喜，深入空智」 tr. "rejoiced, and entered deeply into the knowledge of emptiness", and said to the Buddha that prajñā is very deep; the Buddha affirmed it and completed his praise: because the suchness of form and all dharmas is so, it is very deep. The Buddha's words: 「不但眼見色甚深，以般若波羅蜜分別色入如實故甚深。」 tr. "It is not merely that the form the eye sees is very deep; it is because, by prajñāpāramitā, form is discriminated and enters what is as it really is, that it is very deep." The simile says: 「如雨渧渧，不名甚深；和合眾流，入於大海，乃名甚深。」 tr. "Raindrops, drop by drop, are not called very deep; gathered together in many streams and entering the great sea, they are then called very deep." A single drop of water does not make depth; only when many streams return to the sea is depth and breadth seen; the mark of a single form is not enough to call deep; when it is discriminated by prajñā and enters what is as it really is, form begins to show its depth—the depth lies in the entering, not on the surface of form.

24. The wisdom-eye contemplates the deep; because it is very deep it is immeasurable—weighing and measuring has faults. The treatise-author continues: 「天眼、肉眼，見淺而不深；若以慧眼觀，則深不可測。」 tr. "The divine eye and the fleshly eye see the shallow and not the deep; if one contemplates with the wisdom-eye, then it is deep beyond fathoming." Because it is very deep it is hard to fathom; 「唯有諸佛乃盡其底」 tr. "only the buddhas reach its bottom". Because it is very deep and cannot be fathomed, it is called immeasurable—「無有智慧能取色等實相，若常、若無常，籌量有過罪故」 tr. "there is no wisdom that can grasp the real mark of form and the rest, as permanent or as impermanent, because weighing and measuring has faults and wrongs". At this time Śāriputra and all the listeners had this thought: prajñā cannot be fathomed and has no measure; 「菩薩當云何行」 tr. "how should the bodhisattva practise"? The meaning of the three praises is gathered in here: deep, hard to fathom, and immeasurable are three advances of one meaning, and the thought of the listeners naturally turns out the question of the gate of practice—since it is immeasurable, where does one set to work?

25. The simile that the depth of water is not fixed—depth and shallowness are spoken of distinctly for beings sharp and dull. The Buddha knows their thought and tells Śāriputra: a bodhisattva, 「若行色等甚深者，則為失般若波羅蜜；若不行色甚深，是為得般若波羅蜜」 tr. "if he practises the depth of form and the rest, then he loses prajñāpāramitā; if he does not practise the depth of form, this is gaining prajñāpāramitā". The treatise-author explains: because ordinary people are dull in faculty, it is called very deep; for those of one-pointed mind, of merit, of sharp faculties, it is not very deep. 「譬如水深淺無定，若於小兒則深，長者則淺」 tr. "It is like water, whose depth and shallowness are not fixed: to a small child it is deep, to a grown man it is shallow"; and so on up to the great sea, deep to a human, shallow to the asura king Rāhu. To ordinary people, to those who have newly aroused the mind, and to the lazy it is very deep; to the avaivartika who has long accumulated virtue it is shallow; 「諸佛如羅睺阿修羅王，於一切法無有深者，得無礙解脫故」 tr. "the buddhas are like the asura king Rāhu: among all dharmas there is none that is deep to them, because they have attained unobstructed liberation". Depth and shallowness are not in the dharma but in the capacity—for the sake of beings, and of the season, sharp or dull, first or long-practised, lazy or vigorous, depth and shallowness are spoken of distinctly.

26. The mark of the very deep is not form; the question of why Śāriputra again speaks of the very deep. The treatise-author cites the causes and conditions the Buddha himself stated: 「色等法甚深相為非色。何以故？怖畏、心沒、疑悔故，以色為甚深，色相則無深。」 tr. "The mark of the depth of form and other dharmas is not form. Why? Because of fear, the sinking of the mind, and doubt and regret, one takes form as very deep; the mark of form in itself has no depth." Depth is cast onto the dharma by the fear, doubt, and regret in the mind; the mark of form itself has no depth that can be set up. Śāriputra says to the Buddha: prajñā is very deep, and the mark of the very deep is hard to see and hard to understand. Question: above it says 「菩薩不行甚深，為行般若波羅蜜」 tr. "the bodhisattva not practising the very deep is practising prajñāpāramitā"; why now does Śāriputra again speak of the very deep? Having negated the practice of the very deep, why does he again praise the very deep with his mouth—this question brings into the open, on the reader's behalf, the surface contradiction in the sūtra text, and the next passage resolves it.

27. He speaks of the very deep for the sake of people—the simile of not letting a small child cross deep water. Answer: 「舍利弗非定心說甚深，得佛意趣，為人故說甚深。」 tr. "Śāriputra does not speak of the very deep with a fixed mind; he has grasped the Buddha's intent, and speaks of the very deep for the sake of people." For this reason it says here: this prajñā should not be spoken before bodhisattvas who have newly aroused the mind, for a bodhisattva new to the training, hearing this deep wisdom, 「則心沒」 tr. "then his mind sinks"; it should be spoken before avaivartika bodhisattvas, because the avaivartika's wisdom is deep, and he 「信而不沒」 tr. "has faith and does not sink". The simile says: 「譬如深水，不應使小兒渡，應教大人令渡。」 tr. "It is like deep water: one should not make a small child cross it; one should teach a grown person to cross it." To speak of depth is not to grasp at the mark of depth; it is a teaching set up according to the capacity—in one's own mind no fixed mark is set up, and for the sake of others one cannot but distinguish deep and shallow; the two do not obstruct each other.

28. A close explanation of the fault for those who have newly aroused the mind—the fear of annihilation and the bind of not receiving. The treatise-author explains Śakra's question, "what fault is there": Śāriputra answers that those who have newly aroused the mind then do not believe and their minds sink; 「心沒故生疑悔、怖畏」 tr. "because the mind sinks, doubt and regret, fear and dread arise"—the bind of being able neither to advance nor to retreat is: 「若受一切空法，我云何當墮斷滅中？若不受者，佛所說法，何可不受！」 tr. "If I receive the dharma that all is empty, how shall I not fall into annihilation? If I do not receive it—it is the Dharma spoken by the Buddha; how can I not receive it!" For this reason there is fear, and doubt and regret arise. If the mind becomes fixed, it gives rise to evil and wrong disparagement; the recompense of disparagement is as told in the Chapter on the Hells, and here it is stated in brief: 「種三惡道業因緣，久久難得無上道。」 tr. "One plants the causes and conditions of the karma of the three evil destinies, and for a long, long time it is hard to attain the unsurpassed path." Fear is still a light fault; a fixed mind giving rise to disparagement becomes heavy karma—the care with which the capacity is protected lies precisely at the gate of disparagement and slander.

29. One who has not received the prediction hears and can have faith—receiving the prediction within no more than one buddha or two. At the opening of Sūtra ③, Śakra asks Śāriputra: 「頗有未受記菩薩摩訶薩聞是深般若波羅蜜不驚、不怖者不？」 tr. "Is there any bodhisattva-mahāsattva who has not received the prediction, who hears this deep prajñāpāramitā and is not startled and not terrified?" Śāriputra says: there is! If a bodhisattva hears this deep prajñā and is not startled or terrified, 「當知是菩薩，受阿耨多羅三藐三菩提記不久，不過一佛、兩佛」 tr. "know that this bodhisattva will receive the prediction of anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi before long, within no more than one buddha or two buddhas". Above it was said that faith comes from causes in former lives; here the predictive meaning of faith is turned out: to be able to have faith and not be startled is the mark that the prediction is at hand—faith is not only the verification on the side of the result; it is even more a pledge on the side of the cause.

30. The Buddha confirms it; Śāriputra gives the simile of the dream—practising the six perfections in a dream is already near to awakening. The Buddha tells Śāriputra: Just so! Just so! This bodhisattva has 「久發意、行六波羅蜜、多供養諸佛」 tr. "long aroused the intent, practised the six perfections, and made offerings to many buddhas", and hearing this deep prajñā is not startled, not terrified, not afraid, and on hearing it at once receives and upholds it and practises as it is taught. Śāriputra tells the Buddha he wishes to give a simile: one who seeks the bodhisattva path and 「夢中」 tr. "in a dream" cultivates and practises prajñā, enters meditative absorption, is diligent and vigorous, is complete in patience, guards morality, practises giving, cultivates and practises inner emptiness and outer emptiness, and so on up to sitting at the seat of awakening—know that this person is near to anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi; 「何況」 tr. "how much more" one who, awake, cultivates and practises the six perfections—how should he not swiftly accomplish awakening and sit at the seat of awakening! One whose roots of goodness are accomplished, who gets to hear prajñā, receives and upholds it, and so on up to practising as it is taught—know that he has long aroused the intent, planted roots of goodness, made offerings to many buddhas, and kept company with good friends, and is 「近受阿耨多羅三藐三菩提記」 tr. "near to receiving the prediction of anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi", like an avaivartika, unmoving and unturning in regard to awakening. If practice in a dream is so, practice when awake can be known—reasoning from the light to the heavy, the momentum is like splitting bamboo.

31. The simile of the dangerous road—seeing herdsmen, boundary marks, and gardens, one knows the town, city, and village are not far. Śāriputra gives the first simile: it is like a person who wishes to cross 「百由旬、若二百、三百、四百由旬曠野嶮道」 tr. "a dangerous road through the wilderness of a hundred yojanas, or two hundred, three hundred, or four hundred yojanas", who first sees various signs: herdsmen, boundary marks, gardens, and so knows he is near a city, a town, a village. Having seen these signs, this person thinks: from the signs I have seen, know that the town and the village are not far. 「心得安隱，不畏賊難、惡蟲、飢渴。」 tr. "His mind gains peace and security, and he does not fear the danger of bandits, evil insects, hunger, or thirst." The dangerous road is not yet ended, but the prior signs have already appeared, and the mind is at peace first—the crux of the simile lies in the two words ‘prior signs’: though the result has not yet arrived, the signs can be relied on, and in the fitting to the Dharma below each has its counterpart.

32. Fitting it to the Dharma—gaining prajñā is itself the prior sign; one should not fear falling to the ground of the two vehicles. Śāriputra fits it himself: so it is with the bodhisattva; 「若得是深般若波羅蜜，受持、讀、誦乃至正憶念，當知近受得阿耨多羅三藐三菩提記不久」 tr. "if he gains this deep prajñāpāramitā and receives and upholds it, reads it, recites it, and so on up to rightly recollecting it, know that he is near, and will receive the prediction of anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi before long"; know that this bodhisattva 「不應畏墮聲聞、辟支佛地」 tr. "need not fear falling to the ground of the śrāvaka or the pratyekabuddha". What are the prior signs? 「是諸先相，所謂甚深般若波羅蜜，得聞、得見、得受乃至正憶念故。」 tr. "These prior signs are namely that the very deep prajñāpāramitā is heard, seen, received, and so on up to rightly recollected." Getting to hear prajñā is itself the sign that the prediction is about to arrive—the herdsmen, boundary marks, and gardens the traveller seeks on the dangerous road are this very scroll of prajñā in one's hands.

33. The simile of the great sea—level ground without trees or mountains, one knows the sea is not far. The Buddha says: if you are glad to speak further, then speak. Śāriputra gives the second simile: it is like a person who wishes to see the great sea and sets out toward it; he 「不見樹相、不見山相」 tr. "sees no sign of trees, sees no sign of mountains", and though he has not yet seen the great sea, he knows the great sea is not far; why? 「大海處平，無樹相、無山相故。」 tr. "Because where the great sea is, it is level, without the sign of trees, without the sign of mountains." When a bodhisattva hears this deep prajñā, receives and upholds it, and so on up to rightly recollecting it, 「雖未佛前受劫數之記」 tr. "though he has not yet received before a Buddha the prediction with its count of kalpas", whether a hundred kalpas, a thousand kalpas, ten thousand kalpas, or a hundred thousand myriad koṭi of kalpas, this bodhisattva 「自知近受阿耨多羅三藐三菩提記不久」 tr. "himself knows that he is near, and will receive the prediction of anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi before long". The previous simile takes the presence of signs as its sign; this simile takes the absence of signs as its sign—where the trees and mountains end is the seashore; where the signs gradually fade away is near to awakening; the two similes, one positive and one negative, complement each other.

34. The simile of the spring tree—the old leaves have fallen, and flowers and fruit are not far off. The third simile: it is like early spring, when 「諸樹陳葉已墮，當知此樹新葉華果出在不久」 tr. "the old leaves of the trees have already fallen, and one knows that this tree's new leaves, flowers, and fruit will come forth before long"; the people of Jambudvīpa, seeing the prior signs of the trees, all greatly rejoice. When a bodhisattva gets to hear the deep prajñā, receives and upholds it, reads and recites it, and so on up to rightly recollecting it and practising as it is taught, know that his roots of goodness are accomplished and he has made offerings to many buddhas. This bodhisattva should think thus: 「先世善根所追，趣阿耨多羅三藐三菩提」 tr. "pursued by the roots of goodness of former lives, I am heading for anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi", and by these causes and conditions I get to see and hear this deep prajñā. Among them, the gods who have seen the Buddha rejoice and leap for joy: 「先諸菩薩摩訶薩亦有如是受記先相」 tr. "the bodhisattva-mahāsattvas of before also had such prior signs of receiving the prediction", and this bodhisattva too will receive the prediction before long. The falling of the old leaves is the season of new flourishing—where the afflictions wither, the roots of goodness put forth; even the gods watching from the side can recognise this sign, as one recognises the tidings of spring.

35. The simile of the woman with child—seeing the prior signs, one knows the birth is not far. The fourth simile: it is like a woman with child whose 「身體苦重，行步不便，坐起不安，眠食轉少，不喜言語，厭本所習」 tr. "body is burdened and heavy, whose walking is awkward, whose sitting and rising are uneasy, whose sleep and eating grow less, who does not like to talk, and who grows weary of her former habits", because she is undergoing pain; other women, seeing her prior signs, 「當知產生不久」 tr. "know that the birth is not far off". So it is with the bodhisattva: he plants roots of goodness, makes offerings to many buddhas, has long practised the six perfections, keeps company with good friends, his roots of goodness are accomplished, and he gets to hear the deep prajñā, receives and upholds it, reads and recites it, and so on up to rightly recollecting it and practising as it is taught; 「諸菩薩亦知是菩薩摩訶薩得阿耨多羅三藐三菩提記不久」 tr. "the bodhisattvas too know that this bodhisattva-mahāsattva will attain the prediction of anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi before long". With this the four similes reach their most intimate point—the conception of the fruit of the path is complete, the marks of the body change of themselves, and one who knows recognises it at a glance; the phrase ‘weary of her former habits’ is above all the verification that the bearing of the practitioner is changing.

36. Subhūti praises the entrusting well; the Buddha speaks at length of the bodhisattva practising himself and teaching others. The Buddha praises Śāriputra: 「善哉！善哉！汝所樂說，皆是佛力。」 tr. "Excellent! Excellent! What you are glad to speak is all the Buddha's power." At that time Subhūti says to the Buddha: 「希有！世尊！諸多陀阿伽度、阿羅呵、三藐三佛陀善付諸菩薩摩訶薩事！」 tr. "It is rare, World-Honored One! How well the tathāgatas, arhats, samyaksaṃbuddhas entrust the affairs of the bodhisattva-mahāsattvas!" The Buddha tells Subhūti: these bodhisattvas arouse the mind of anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi 「安隱多眾生，令無量眾生得樂，憐愍、安樂、饒益諸天人故」 tr. "to bring peace and security to many beings, to let immeasurable beings gain happiness, and out of pity, to give ease and abundant benefit to gods and humans"; when they practise the bodhisattva path they gather immeasurable hundreds of thousands of beings by four things—「布施、愛語、利益、同事」 tr. "giving, kind speech, beneficial action, and shared endeavour"—and also bring beings to accomplishment by the ten wholesome paths; they themselves practise the first dhyāna and so on up to the sphere of neither perception nor non-perception, and themselves practise the six perfections, and teach others all these as well; having gained prajñā, by the power of skilful means they teach beings to gain the fruit of srota-āpanna and so on up to the path of the pratyekabuddha, while 「自於內不證」 tr. "he himself does not realise them within"; they themselves abide in the ground of the avaivartika, purify buddha-worlds, bring beings to accomplishment, gain the bodhisattva's supernormal powers, purify the gates of dhāraṇī, are complete in the eloquence of delighting in speech, accomplish the receiving of form, the thirty-two marks, the youthful state, the ten powers of the Buddha, the four fearlessnesses, the eighteen unshared dharmas, great kindness and great compassion, omniscience of all kinds, freedom from all fetters together with their residual habits, and so on up to 「自轉法輪，亦教他人轉法輪」 tr. "themselves turning the wheel of the Dharma and also teaching others to turn the wheel of the Dharma"—each one is practising oneself and teaching others.

37. The treatise explains the question of one who has not received the prediction yet can have faith—the simile of the fish that has swallowed the hook arises. The treatise-author explains: Śakra asks whether there is any bodhisattva who has not received the prediction who hears this deep prajñā and is not startled or terrified, and Śāriputra says: 「無有不受記聞般若能信者。若或時能信者，當知垂欲受記，不過見一佛、二佛，便得受記。」 tr. "There is no one who has not received the prediction who hears prajñā and can have faith. If at times there is one who can have faith, know that he is on the verge of receiving the prediction; within seeing no more than one buddha or two buddhas, he will receive the prediction." The Buddha approves Śāriputra's words. Śāriputra, hearing the Buddha approve what he said, rejoices in his mind, and because he wishes to make this matter still more distinct and clear, he gives similes: 「夢中心為睡所覆故，非真心所作」 tr. "because in a dream the mind is covered by sleep, it is not what the true mind does"; one who in a dream arouses the intent and practises the six perfections, and so on up to sitting at the seat of awakening—this person's merit is light and slight, yet he is near to receiving the prediction; how much more one who, awake, with a real mind arouses awakening and practises the six perfections—how should he not be near to receiving the prediction! If a person going back and forth in birth and death through the six destinies at some time gets to hear prajñā, receives and upholds it, reads and recites it, and rightly recollects it, 「必知是人不久得阿耨多羅三藐三菩提」 tr. "one knows for certain that this person will before long attain anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi".

38. The simile of the fish that has swallowed the hook—one who deeply believes in and delights in prajñā does not long abide in birth and death. The treatise-author gives a simile of his own: 「如吞鉤之魚，雖復遊戲池中，當知出在不久；行者亦如是，深信樂般若波羅蜜，不久住於生死。」 tr. "Like a fish that has swallowed the hook: though it still plays in the pond, know that it will be out before long; so it is with the practitioner: one who deeply believes in and delights in prajñāpāramitā will not long abide in birth and death." The fish has already swallowed the hook; it plays as before, yet the time of leaving the water is set; the practitioner with one thought deeply believes in prajñā; his traces are still in birth and death, but his going beyond is already fixed. This simile fills in a layer the four similes had not reached: the prior signs can be recognised not only from outward marks; the mind of faith and delight is itself the hook already swallowed—one who is caught by the hook of prajñā cannot be held by birth and death.

39. Fitting the simile of the dangerous road—two explanations of the four hundred yojanas. The treatise-author explains how the simile of the dangerous road fits the Dharma: ‘the dangerous road is the world’. A hundred yojanas is the desire realm, two hundred yojanas is the form realm, three hundred yojanas is the formless realm, four hundred yojanas is the path of the śrāvaka and the pratyekabuddha; again, four hundred yojanas is the desire realm, three hundred yojanas is the form realm, two hundred yojanas is the formless realm, a hundred yojanas is the śrāvaka and the pratyekabuddha. The two matchings stand side by side: the first takes the three realms as near and the two vehicles as far, speaking of the order of leaving; the second takes the desire realm as farthest, speaking of the weight of difficulty to cross—because the bonds of the desire realm are thickest, its road is longest. The treatise-author keeps both explanations, rightly showing that the living phrase of a simile is not to be read as dead.

40. The signs on the dangerous road fitted to the Dharma one by one—the bandits are wrong views, the evil insects are the afflictions. The treatise-author continues fitting: 「欲出」 tr. "wishing to get out" is the person who has faith in, receives, and practises prajñā. 「先見諸法相」 tr. "First seeing the signs of dharmas" is seeing great bodhisattvas give up the worldly pleasures of desire and with a deep mind delight in prajñā. 「壃界」 tr. "Boundary marks" is distinguishing dharmas—the dharma of the śrāvaka, the dharma of the pratyekabuddha, the dharma of the Great Vehicle; the small benefit is the śrāvaka, the great benefit is the bodhisattva; 「魔界是生死，佛界是般若波羅蜜、甘露法味不死之處」 tr. "Māra's realm is birth and death; the Buddha's realm is prajñāpāramitā, the ambrosial flavour of the Dharma, the place of the deathless". 「園林」 tr. "Gardens" is the bliss of meditative absorption, wisdom, and the like that accord with the Buddha path. 「聚落」 tr. "The village" is the compliant acceptance of dharmas, 「邑」 tr. "the town" is the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas, 「城」 tr. "the city" is anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi. 「賊」 tr. "Bandits" are the sixty-two wrong views of self and the like, 「惡蟲」 tr. "evil insects" are the afflictions of craving, hatred, and the like; not fearing bandits means humans find no opening, not fearing evil insects means non-humans find no opening; 「不畏飢」 tr. "not fearing hunger" is not fearing to be unable to gain the true wisdom of the sages, 「不畏渴」 tr. "not fearing thirst" is not fearing to be unable to gain the taste of the Dharma-bliss of meditative absorption, liberation, and the like. Matching sign by sign to the Dharma, the stages of acceptance are the post-stations of the journey, and awakening is the city one heads for.

41. Concluding the causes and conditions of the prior signs; not fearing to fall to the two vehicles; the coarse as simile for the subtle. The treatise-author concludes this simile: here it states the causes and conditions itself—「菩薩摩訶薩得先相者，不久當得阿耨多羅三藐三菩提。」 tr. "A bodhisattva-mahāsattva who gains the prior signs will before long attain anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi." 「不畏墮惡道中、飢餓死」 tr. "Not fearing to fall on the bad road and die of hunger" is fitted to the Dharma as 「不畏墮聲聞、辟支佛地」 tr. "not fearing to fall to the ground of the śrāvaka or the pratyekabuddha"—on the bodhisattva path, the realisation of the two vehicles becomes instead a danger midway, like the traveller's fear of dying of hunger by the roadside. 「佛然可其喻，以麁喻細，以世間喻出世間。」 tr. "The Buddha affirms his simile, using the coarse as a simile for the subtle, using the worldly as a simile for the world-transcending." The simile and what it illustrates are not equal in the first place; one takes only the resemblance; what the Buddha affirms is his using ordinary worldly feeling to lead people into the deep principle that transcends the world.

42. The remaining three similes fitted to the Dharma—the great sea, the tree's flowers and fruit, the woman. The treatise-author says: 「餘三譬喻，亦應如上分別說。」 tr. "The remaining three similes should also be distinguished and explained as above." In brief he shows the essentials: 「大海水」 tr. "the water of the great sea" is the unsurpassed path, 「平地無樹無山」 tr. "level ground without trees and without mountains" is the scrolls of the prajñāpāramitā sūtra and the like; 「樹果」 tr. "the fruit of the tree" is the unsurpassed path, 「樹華」 tr. "the flowers of the tree" is the ground of the avaivartika, 「春時陳葉落，更生新葉」 tr. "in spring the old leaves fall and new leaves grow again" is 「諸煩惱邪見、疑等滅」 tr. "the ceasing of the afflictions, wrong views, doubt, and the like", so that one can gain the scrolls of the prajñā sūtra and the like; 「母人」 tr. "the woman" is the practitioner, 「所任身」 tr. "the body she carries" is the unsurpassed path, 「欲產相」 tr. "the signs of approaching birth" are the bodhisattva's long training in prajñā, 「厭本所習」 tr. "weary of her former habits" is 「患世間婬欲樂，不復喜著」 tr. "being troubled by the worldly pleasures of sexual desire and no longer delighting in and clinging to them". The Buddha praises what he has said: "Excellent!" The fitting of all three similes takes the scrolls of the prajñā sūtra as the sign present before one and the unsurpassed path as the reality carried within—the meaning of the prior signs is threaded through by one.

43. Entrusting well the affairs of the bodhisattvas—the path of emptiness and the path of merit, entrusted to Ānanda, Maitreya, and others. The treatise-author explains Subhūti's praise: Subhūti, hearing the Buddha affirm what Śāriputra said and praise it as excellent, 「知佛意深敬念是菩薩」 tr. "knew that the Buddha's intent deeply reveres and cherishes these bodhisattvas", and so said to the Buddha: the World-Honored One is exceedingly rare, entrusting well the affairs of the bodhisattvas. 「菩薩事」 tr. "The affairs of the bodhisattvas" are 「空道，福德道」 tr. "the path of emptiness and the path of merit"; and as the Buddha has spoken in all kinds of general and particular marks, 「以寄付阿難、彌勒等」 tr. "he entrusts them to Ānanda, Maitreya, and others", so that after his entering nirvāṇa without remainder they may well uphold and practise them, teach and show them, benefit beings, and 「無令謬錯」 tr. "let there be no error"! The matter entrusted raises both paths together—the path of emptiness is the life of wisdom, the path of merit is the provisions; after the Buddha's extinction the Dharma is spread by people, and in the two words ‘entrusting well’ lies the Tathāgata's deep concern for what comes after him.

44. Explaining bringing peace and security to many beings—to those who cling to permanence teach impermanence, like taking bitter medicine. The treatise-author explains the causes and conditions of the entrusting well that the Buddha speaks of: the bodhisattvas arouse the mind of anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi. 「安穩多眾生」 tr. "Bringing peace and security to many beings": all beings are immeasurable, boundless, asaṃkhyeya, and none but the Buddha can count and know them; those who gain benefit from the Buddha cannot be counted, and so they are called many. 「安穩」 tr. "Peace and security": 「眾生著常，教無常；著樂者，教苦；著實者，教空；著我者，教無我」 tr. "beings cling to permanence—teach impermanence; to those who cling to pleasure, teach suffering; to those who cling to the real, teach emptiness; to those who cling to self, teach non-self"—things such as these are called peace and security. When ordinary people hear this, though at the time they do not like or delight in it, over a long time they extinguish their afflictions and gain the bliss of peace and security; 「如服苦藥，當時雖苦，後得除患」 tr. "like taking bitter medicine: though it is bitter at the time, afterwards one is rid of the sickness". Peace and security is not a comfort that follows feeling; it is a cure that pulls out the root—all four teachings go against ordinary feeling and accord with the real mark, and the bitter mouthful is exactly where peace and security come from.

45. Explaining gaining happiness and abundant benefit—the differences of benefit in three periods. The treatise-author explains 「無量眾生得樂」 tr. "letting immeasurable beings gain happiness": when a bodhisattva seeks prajñā and has not yet accomplished it, he 「以今世、後世樂利益眾生」 tr. "benefits beings with the happiness of this life and of later lives", as the Bodhisattva Jātaka Sūtra says; if he has gained prajñā and already cut off the afflictions, he also benefits beings with worldly happiness and world-transcending happiness; 「若得無上道時，但以出世間樂利益眾生」 tr. "when he gains the unsurpassed path, he benefits beings only with world-transcending happiness". 「安樂、饒益」 tr. "Giving ease and abundant benefit" means that only out of a mind of pity does he give ease and abundant benefit; 「饒者，多利益天、人；餘道中饒益少故不說」 tr. "‘abundant’ means that he greatly benefits gods and humans; in the other destinies the abundant benefit is small, so it is not mentioned". Three stages, three happinesses: not yet having attained the path, he gives worldly happiness; having gained prajñā, he bestows both worldly and world-transcending; having become a Buddha, he gives purely world-transcending happiness—the grade of benefiting others turns deeper according to the position of one's own realisation.

46. A broad explanation of the four means of gathering—kind speech and beneficial action each have two kinds; shared endeavour means sharing in what they practise. The treatise-author explains that 「利益事」 tr. "the matters of benefit" are namely the four means of gathering: gathering beings by the two kinds, the gift of wealth and the gift of Dharma. 「愛語」 tr. "Kind speech" has two kinds: 「一者、隨意愛語，二者、隨其所愛法為說」 tr. "first, kind speech that follows their wishes; second, speaking to them according to the dharma they love"—before attaining the path, he pities beings, breaks down his own arrogance, and speaks the Dharma as they wish; having attained the path, he speaks according to the dharma by which each should be delivered, as for a rich man of haughty mind he praises giving, whereas if he praised keeping morality and disparaged breaking morality, that man's mind would not be pleased; he speaks the Dharma according to what is fitting. 「利益」 tr. "Beneficial action" also has two kinds: first, he speaks the Dharma for benefit in this life and benefit in later lives, and by the Dharma manages livelihood and diligently cultivates beneficial affairs; second, 「未信教令信，破戒令持戒，寡識令多聞，不施者令布施，癡者教智慧」 tr. "those without faith he teaches to have faith, those who break morality he has keep morality, those of little learning he makes learned, those who do not give he has give, the deluded he teaches wisdom". 「同事」 tr. "Shared endeavour" means teaching and transforming beings, having them practise wholesome dharmas and sharing in what they practise—「菩薩善心，眾生惡心，能化其惡，令同己善」 tr. "the bodhisattva has a good mind and beings have evil minds; he can transform their evil and make it the same as his own goodness". The essential point of the four means of gathering lies in following the capacity: speech follows what they love, benefit follows what they lack, endeavour shares in what they practise.

47. The four means of gathering concluded and the extension of practising oneself and teaching others—entrusting well out of kindness and compassion, not out of loving attachment. The treatise-author concludes: the bodhisattva gathers beings by the four kinds and has them abide in the ten wholesome paths; this is the broad explanation of the meaning of the four means of gathering. Of the two gifts, the gift of Dharma is foremost; speaking the Dharma according to what they delight in is foremost in kind speech; having them practise the ten wholesome paths lets them gain long life, and among the benefits of all precious things 「法利最勝」 tr. "the benefit of the Dharma is supreme"; in shared endeavour, sharing in the practice of wholesome dharmas is superior. Someone says: the later practising the ten wholesome paths oneself and the rest is the fourth, the meaning of sharing, and so it says that he himself practises the ten wholesome paths and also teaches others to practise them. 「自行初禪，亦教他行」 tr. "He himself practises the first dhyāna and also teaches others to practise it"—the first dhyāna and the rest are 「同離欲，同持戒，是故名相攝；相攝故，漸漸能以三乘法度」 tr. "the same in leaving desire, the same in keeping morality, and therefore they are called gathering one another; because they gather one another, step by step one can deliver by the dharma of the three vehicles". Because of prajñā he lets beings gain a share of prajñā, namely gaining srota-āpanna and the rest, 「方便力故自不證」 tr. "by the power of skilful means himself not realising them"; he teaches immeasurable asaṃkhyeya bodhisattvas to abide in the six perfections, and so on up to himself turning the wheel of the Dharma and also teaching others to turn the wheel of the Dharma. At the end it returns to the mind of entrusting: 「是故我以慈悲心故善付是菩薩事，不以愛著故。」 tr. "Therefore I entrust well these affairs of the bodhisattvas out of a mind of kindness and compassion, not out of loving attachment." The single-word verdict between kindness and compassion and loving attachment is exactly why the entrusting well is well.

Do Not Misread

Do not read ‘faith and disparagement both come from former lives’ as a doctrine of fixed destiny. The sūtra text says that those who can have faith planted the roots of virtue long ago, and that those who disparage also disparaged in former lives; this makes clear the momentum of cause and result continuing, not that nothing can be done in this life; where the treatise-author explains, he states plainly that the reason for unbelief is 「不久行功德，則著心堅固、信力微弱」 tr. "not having long practised merit, the attached mind is firm and the power of faith feeble"—the attached mind can be broken, merit can be accumulated, and the density of wet wool is accumulated precisely strand by strand. If one reads it as the root of faith fixed by heaven and the one who disparages beyond saving, then the question and answer about hearing prajñā again after finishing the penalty of hell all become empty words.

Do not read ‘not abiding, not training’ as abandoning cultivation. The Buddha says that not abiding in form is training in prajñā, and 「若不習色，是名習色」 tr. "if he does not train in form, this is called training in form"; the treatise-author distinguishes it in two layers: the training that is negated is 「取色相，若常、若無常等」 tr. "grasping at the mark of form, as permanent, as impermanent, and so on", and the training that is accomplished is the wholesome dharmas' 「積習純厚」 tr. "accumulating habit pure and thick" and 「能習色等諸法實相」 tr. "being able to train in the real mark of form and all dharmas"—what is negated is grasping at marks, not the six perfections and the myriad practices. Of the six perfections the sūtra text says directly, 「不住禪波羅蜜中，為習禪波羅蜜」 tr. "not abiding in dhyānapāramitā is training in dhyānapāramitā"; the word ‘train’ is never let go from beginning to end.

Do not read 「不應在新發意菩薩前說」 tr. "it should not be spoken before bodhisattvas who have newly aroused the mind" as prajñā having a secret. The reason for not speaking it is to protect their root of faith—hearing the deep Dharma, the mind sinks and gives rise to disparagement, and one 「種三惡道業」 tr. "plants the karma of the three evil destinies"; this is to protect people, not to begrudge the Dharma; and the treatise-author states plainly that Śāriputra 「非定心說甚深，得佛意趣，為人故說甚深」 tr. "does not speak of the very deep with a fixed mind; he has grasped the Buddha's intent, and speaks of the very deep for the sake of people". Depth and shallowness have no fixed mark in the first place, as water is deep to a small child and shallow to a grown man; speaking of shallow and deep according to capacity, and the Dharma-substance having no deep or shallow—each of the two statements has its own place.

Do not read the verification of the four similes as a guarantee that hearing the sūtra ensures the prediction. What the four similes verify is the person who 「受持、讀、誦乃至正憶念、如說行」 tr. "receives and upholds it, reads it, recites it, and so on up to rightly recollecting it and practising as it is taught"—the fitting of every simile to the Dharma carries this whole string of practice and upholding; the treatise-author's simile of the swallowed hook likewise says that one who 「深信樂般若波羅蜜」 tr. "deeply believes in and delights in prajñāpāramitā" will not long abide in birth and death. One hearing that reaches the ears is the sign of a cause from former lives; the nearness of the prediction depends on the practice after hearing; to read the prior signs as sufficient signs is precisely the conceit of mistaking the symptom for the realised result.

Bearing on Practice

By hearing the Dharma, verify for oneself the causes of former lives; by practice and upholding, make for oneself the causes to come. This unit teaches a kind of looking back: that today one can hear prajñā and not be startled or terrified lets one know that in former lives one once asked and once practised; if today on hearing it the mind resists, there is also no need to give up on oneself—the attached mind firm and the power of faith feeble is a symptom, not a verdict; practise the six perfections one matter at a time, and dry wool will of itself become wet wool. The single thought of joy or the single thought of doubt and regret at the moment of hearing the Dharma is the report card of one's own lessons from former lives; read it rightly, and then make up the lessons.

In every method of practice, examine the abiding in marks. In daily practice of giving, sitting in meditation, reciting and reading, do the outward matters as they are, but constantly ask oneself: am I abiding within this dharma—relying on giving as what I am able to do, clinging to meditative absorption as what I have gained? The measure of the sūtra text is extremely simple: 「不得色可住可習處」 tr. "one does not find in form a place where one can abide or train"; whenever one feels there is some result of practice where one can settle oneself, that is abiding; practise without abiding, and the practice is pure. Searching through the three times is a ready-made method of contemplation: what has been done has ceased, what has not been done does not exist, what is being done does not stop—where is there to abide?

When startlement and terror appear, recognise the doubt about annihilation. The treatise-author draws the mind-mark of the one who has newly aroused the mind: 「若受一切空法，我云何當墮斷滅中？若不受者，佛所說法，何可不受！」 tr. "If I receive the dharma that all is empty, how shall I not fall into annihilation? If I do not receive it—it is the Dharma spoken by the Buddha; how can I not receive it!" When on hearing the Dharma of emptiness one loses one's footing, able neither to advance nor retreat, first recognise that this is exactly the pass foretold in the sūtra; there is no need for shame, and one must not disparage—better to keep the doubt and diligently practise the six perfections than to give rise to disparagement with a fixed mind; one word of disparagement completes the karma, and for a long, long time it is hard to attain the unsurpassed path.

Take the prior signs for one's peace, and weariness of habit for one's verification. Midway on the path there is often the anxiety of not knowing where one has come to, and the four similes teach one to recognise the signposts: being able to give rise to joy in the scrolls of the prajñā sūtra and to receive and uphold them, gradually finding the pleasures of the world grow pale (weary of her former habits), seeing the afflictions drop away like old leaves—all are signs that the town is not far; to recognise them is to have the 「心得安隱」 tr. "mind gain peace and security", not fearing the danger of bandits, evil insects, hunger, or thirst. Again, to practise one dharma oneself is to teach others one dharma; the four means of gathering follow the capacity: speech chooses what they love, benefit supplies what they lack, endeavour shares in what they practise—out of kindness and compassion, not out of loving attachment: this is gathering others and also purifying oneself.

Further Resonances

The First Part, a single unit of three sūtra passages and three treatise passages, is the section of Praise of Practising in Faith that establishes faith. Sūtra ① establishes, from one thought of Śakra, the causes of faith in former lives—those whose ears prajñā reaches made merit in former lives, and the two roads of faith and disparagement both come from former lives; Śakra worships prajñā and the Buddha confirms it: to worship prajñā is to worship omniscience, and for all the fruits and all the virtues one should train in prajñā. Sūtra ② turns into the gate of practice—not abiding in form is training in prajñā, not training in form is called training in form, form in the three times is unfindable; the three praises of very deep, hard to fathom, and immeasurable, while the mark of the very deep is not form, so that even the mark of depth is not practised; the very deep Dharma should not be spoken before those who have newly aroused the mind, and to protect their root of faith is to protect their awakening. Sūtra ③ establishes the verification of faith—one who has not received the prediction yet can have faith will receive the prediction before long; practising the six perfections in a dream, the prior signs on the dangerous road, the sea where the land is level, the old leaves of the spring tree, the woman with child—the four similes, together with the fish that has swallowed the hook, all make clear that getting to hear prajñā is itself the prior sign of receiving the prediction; at the end, entrusting well the affairs of the bodhisattvas, the four means of gathering and the ten wholesome paths, practising oneself and teaching others and so on up to turning the wheel of the Dharma, out of kindness and compassion, not out of loving attachment. Faith has its cause, its practice, its verification, and its entrusting—the three Chinese characters rendered here as ‘praise of practising in faith’ have their substance established in the First Part. As for what the marks of fully practising prajñā are, the praise of the inconceivable, the guarding against hindrances and the deeds of Māra, the buddhas seeing with the Buddha-eye, knowing, and keeping in mind those who uphold the sūtra, and the prediction for the beings of the north in the age of the Dharma's end—the Last Part of this chapter goes on to unfold them; they are not anticipated here.

Praise of Practising in Faith, Last Part: Fully Practising Prajñā and Seeing No Increase or Decrease; Hindrances and the Protection of the Buddhas; the Buddha-Eye Seeing and Knowing Those Who Uphold the Sūtra; Prajñā Turning South, West, and North; Making Vows and the Deep Sūtras That Accord with the Six Perfections

What Is Being Asked

The First Part set up 「信」 tr. "faith" as the eye of the whole chapter: Śakra thought that those who have the prajñā sūtra reach their ears all owe it to having made offerings to the buddhas in former lives and having long practised the six perfections; to worship prajñā is to worship omniscience; only not abiding in form and the rest is training in prajñā; the three questions and three answers on very deep, hard to fathom, and immeasurable come to rest in this, that not practising the very deep is practising prajñā; one who has newly aroused the mind cannot bear to hear the deep, while the avaivartika can have faith and does not sink; the four similes of the wilderness, the great sea, the tree, and the woman with child establish the meaning of the prior signs of receiving the prediction; the Buddha entrusts well the affairs of the bodhisattvas, and by the four means of gathering and the ten wholesome paths they practise themselves and teach others. The Last Part carries on this virtue of faith and first asks after the utmost reach of faith—fullness: only seeing no mark of increase and no mark of decrease in form, and not discriminating this as dharma or as non-dharma, is called fully practising prajñā; the inconceivable, too, may not be abided in. Who is it that has faith and understanding? One who has long practised the six perfections, planted roots of goodness, drawn near to the buddhas, and kept company with good friends. But where precious treasure is, the trouble of bandits follows close: when this prajñā is spoken there are many hindrances, and the evil Māra delights in ruining it; and here the protection and upholding of the Buddha's power and of the buddhas of the ten directions unfolds in full—write quickly and practise quickly, the Buddha-eye seeing and knowing, the result of offerings; after the extinction prajñā turns south, turns west, turns north, and the north will do the work of the Buddha; at the end come the making of vows, the great mind and great giving, and the ease of obtaining, in a later body, the deep sūtras that accord with the six perfections. What the Last Part asks is the question of how practising in faith comes to ground: a deep and inconceivable dharma—how, in an evil age where Māra is strong and the Dharma weak, can it be written, upheld, and practised, and in the end never be lost? The answer holds both ends together—within, the long-planted roots of goodness and the right contemplation that does not discriminate; from outside, the buddhas of the ten directions seeing, knowing, protecting, and keeping in mind with the Buddha-eye; within and without support each other, and so, though the hindrances are great, in the end they cannot ruin it.

Passage by Passage

1. The accomplishment of great merit; fully practising prajñā—seeing no mark of increase, seeing no mark of decrease. Subhūti praises the bodhisattva's accomplishment of great merit: for the sake of all beings he practises prajñā, wishing to attain anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi; going further, he asks about the mark of full practice. The Buddha answers: when practising prajñā, he sees no mark of increase in form and sees no mark of decrease either, and so with feeling, perception, constructions, and consciousness, and so on up to omniscience of all kinds; again, he does not see this as dharma or as non-dharma, the three times, good and not good, determinate and indeterminate, conditioned and unconditioned, the three realms, the six perfections, and so on up to omniscience of all kinds—at this time it is called full. The reason is that dharmas are signless, and that dharmas are empty, deceptive, not firm, without a perceiver, without a life. Fullness is not adding more; it is setting down even the view of 「增減」 tr. "increase and decrease" along with everything else—this sentence fixes the balance for the whole unit.

2. What is spoken is inconceivable; knowing it and grasping at marks, one cannot be full. Subhūti exclaims: what the World-Honored One speaks is inconceivable! The Buddha goes along with it and sets out the reason: because form is inconceivable, what is spoken is inconceivable; because feeling, perception, constructions, and consciousness, the six perfections, and so on up to omniscience of all kinds are inconceivable, what is spoken is inconceivable. Yet a turn follows at once: if, when practising prajñā, the bodhisattva 「知」 tr. "knows" that form is inconceivable, and so on up to knowing that omniscience of all kinds is inconceivable, this bodhisattva on the contrary cannot be full in prajñā. The word of praise is barely out before it is blocked and pushed aside—if the inconceivable is gripped as a knowable mark, conceiving has already come back to life; the road to fullness does not allow a foothold even on 「不可思議」 tr. "the inconceivable".

3. Who will have faith and understanding—long practice, planting roots of goodness, drawing near to the buddhas, keeping company with good friends. Subhūti asks: this deep prajñā—who can have faith in it and understand it? The Buddha answers with four things: having long practised the six perfections, having planted roots of goodness, having drawn near to and made offerings to many buddhas, and keeping company with good friends. To have faith in and understand the deep Dharma is not the cleverness of one present thought; it is the fruit of long perfuming—practice as the ground, roots as the base, the buddhas as teachers, friends as conditions; if one of the four things is missing, the power of faith cannot hold up when one hears the deep Dharma. This question comes straight from the chapter's title, 「信行」 tr. "practising in faith": one who can have faith must have that by which he can have faith.

4. What long practice is—not discriminating form, the mark of form, the nature of form. Subhūti presses: how does one count as having long practised the four things? The Buddha's answer is beyond expectation: not discriminating form, not discriminating the mark of form, not discriminating the nature of form; the twelve sense-fields and the eighteen elements, the three realms, 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 eighteen unshared dharmas, knowledge of the kinds of paths, omniscience of all kinds—in each he does not discriminate the dharma, its mark, or its nature. Why? Because form is inconceivable, and so on up to omniscience of all kinds being inconceivable. 「久」 tr. "Long" is, surprisingly, not measured by years, but by not discriminating—the qualification of time is replaced by the qualification of contemplative wisdom, and this the treatise-author will make explicit below.

5. Prajñā is the heap of precious treasure and the heap of purity. Subhūti takes in the understanding and exclaims: because form is very deep, prajñā is very deep, and so on up to: because omniscience of all kinds is very deep, prajñā is very deep. He then sets up two names: prajñā is the heap of precious treasure—because it holds the treasure of the fruit of srota-āpanna and so on up to the treasure of anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi, and holds the treasures of the four dhyānas, the four immeasurable minds, the four formless absorptions, the five supernormal powers, the four foundations of mindfulness and so on up to the eightfold noble path, the Buddha's ten powers, the four fearlessnesses, the four unobstructed knowledges, great kindness and great compassion, the eighteen unshared dharmas, omniscience, and omniscience of all kinds; prajñā is the heap of purity—because form is pure, and so on up to omniscience of all kinds being pure. The heap of treasure speaks of its wealth; purity speaks of its unmixedness: all the noble fruits and noble dharmas are stored within it, and yet that which stores them has not a speck of dust in itself that can be stained.

6. One of great merit has a great share of kindness. The treatise-author explains 「大功德成就」 tr. "the accomplishment of great merit": first he cites the earlier text, 「自行，亦教他人」 tr. "practising oneself and also teaching others"; then he adds a further explanation—beings are not his kin, and he has nothing to crave or gain from them, yet for their sake he toils at practising prajñā and seeks unsurpassed awakening; this is called the bodhisattva's having a great share of kindness toward beings, and so it is called great merit. The greatness of the kindness lies precisely in its having no tie: the kindness of worldly people is mostly bound to kinship and repayment, while the bodhisattva's kindness has no kin to lean on and no gain to aim at, and is purely for the sake of beings—the 「大」 tr. "great" of merit is judged from this, not by the number of deeds, but by the arousing of a mind that seeks nothing.

7. The mark of fullness—seeing no increase or decrease, like a dream, like an illusion, because of ultimate emptiness. The mark of cultivating prajñā has been spoken of at length in earlier chapters; what is asked now is the mark of 「具足」 tr. "fullness". The Buddha says: as with cultivating prajñā, so too is the mark of fullness—if one sees no increase or decrease in form and the other dharmas, it is called full. The treatise-author adds the most crucial sentence: though this bodhisattva attains the ten grounds and sits at the seat of awakening, and at that time his cultivation of prajñā is full, it is still like a dream, like an illusion, neither increasing nor decreasing—it is said so because of ultimate emptiness. Fullness is not a change of quantity from lack to completion—even the ten grounds and the seat of awakening do not go outside the contemplation of dream and illusion, of neither increase nor decrease; from beginning to end the meaning of fullness is only one ultimate emptiness.

8. Not discriminating dharma and non-dharma, a hundred rivers merging into one taste; entering the emptiness of dharmas. Again, if the bodhisattva does not discriminate among all dharmas this as dharma and that as non-dharma, but all are dharma—like the water of the great sea, where a hundred rivers and ten thousand streams all merge into one taste—at that time his cultivation of prajñā is full. Again, if the bodhisattva enters the emptiness of dharmas, and does not see dharmas as having the three times, good and not good, and so on, and does not see the six perfections and so on up to omniscience of all kinds, at that time his cultivation of prajñā is full. The simile of the sea is excellent: on land a hundred rivers are each clear or muddy, and entering the sea they share the one salt taste—the distinction between dharma and non-dharma is a discrimination on the shore; in the sea of the emptiness of dharmas, there is not one dharma that is not dharma. The two 「復次」 tr. "Again" passages are two faces of one fullness: not discriminating is illumination and function; entering the emptiness of dharmas is realising the substance.

9. The signless is the real mark; false and deceptive, not firm; because beings are empty, without a perceiver, without a life. The treatise-author explains the concluding sentence at the end of the sūtra text: 「諸法無相」 tr. "dharmas are signless" is precisely the real mark; to discriminate among dharmas is always the mark of wrong view; because the eighteen emptinesses are used, it is called 「諸法空」 tr. "dharmas are empty"; what is born from the coming together of causes and conditions is taken to exist, and when the conditions separate it breaks down, so it is 「虛誑」 tr. "false and deceptive"; conditioned dharmas are impermanent and without reality, so they are 「不堅固」 tr. "not firm". 「無覺者」 tr. "Without a perceiver" is established from the emptiness of beings—there is no one who receives suffering and pleasure; as for 「無壽者」 tr. "without a life", life is called the life-faculty, and some people cling to the life-faculty as having the mark of a self and take life as the self; within the emptiness of beings this has already been refuted by all kinds of causes and conditions, and so there is no one who practises the Dharma and no one who receives the Dharma. Contemplating that dharmas are empty—the emptiness of beings and the emptiness of dharmas—in this way one fully cultivates prajñā: the string of negations in the sūtra text returns, word by word, to its place in the two emptinesses.

10. Astonished and delighted, unable to settle himself; cause and effect resemble each other; abiding in the inconceivable, one is not full. At this time Subhūti is astonished and delighted and cannot settle himself, and he exclaims that the prajñā spoken is inconceivable. The Buddha says: it is inconceivable because form and the other dharmas are inconceivable—the reason is that cause and effect resemble each other: what is spoken is the effect, and the dharma on which it relies is the cause; since the dharma is beyond conceiving, the speaking too is beyond conceiving. Again, if the bodhisattva knows that form and the other dharmas are also inconceivable, and if he 「住」 tr. "abides" in this inconceivable, then he is not full in prajñā, because he grasps at the mark of the inconceivable. Praise and sickness are only one line apart: praising its inconceivability is taking in the understanding; abiding in the inconceivable is grasping at marks—taking in the understanding gives birth to faith; grasping at marks becomes a bond.

11. Like sinking into the great sea with nothing to rely on; inconceivable and again inconceivable—who will have faith and understanding? Subhūti finds no place to rely on within prajñā, like sinking into the great sea, and so he says to the Buddha: this deep prajñā is inconceivable, and 「不可思議」 tr. "the inconceivable" is itself also inconceivable—who will have faith and understanding? If it were only inconceivable it still could not be believed; how much more when it is inconceivable and again inconceivable! The Buddha answers: having long practised the six perfections, long planted roots of goodness, long made offerings to and drawn near to the buddhas, and long kept company with good friends—because of these causes and conditions the mind of faith is firm and can believe and receive the deep prajñā. Each of the four things is crowned with the word 「久」 tr. "long": for a dharma with nothing to rely on, only one who has long cultivated can be at peace where there is nothing to rely on—the firmness of the mind of faith is trained out precisely after countless times of letting go.

12. Other chapters say that those who have newly aroused intent can have faith; now it speaks of those who aroused intent long ago; the glosses on not discriminating form, mark, and nature. The treatise-author first examines a doubt: in other chapters it is said that those who have newly aroused intent can also have faith in the deep prajñā; now the Buddha says that it is because they aroused intent long ago that they can have faith—which is why Subhūti asks what one who aroused intent long ago is. The Buddha answers with clearly knowing the mark of prajñā and not discriminating any dharma: 「不分別色」 tr. "not discriminating form"—the four great elements and the form made of the four great elements; 「不分別色相」 tr. "not discriminating the mark of form"—not discriminating that form can be seen and sound can be heard, whether fine or ugly, whether short or long, whether permanent or impermanent, whether suffering or pleasure; 「不分別色性」 tr. "not discriminating the nature of form"—not seeing form as having a permanent dharma, namely the nature of solidity of earth and the like. Dharma, mark, and nature go deeper level by level: the dharma is the substance and the thing, the mark is its outward sign, and the nature is the underlying colour clung to as permanent—only when none of the three levels is set up is it clearly knowing the mark of prajñā.

13. The real nature of form is called the nature of dharmas; marks accumulated by habit become nature; the simile of smoke and fire. Again, the real nature of form is called the nature of dharmas, because it is ultimately empty; the bodhisattva does not discriminate the nature of dharmas, because the nature of dharmas is the mark of not breaking down, and so on up to omniscience of all kinds likewise. Question: Earth is the 「相」 tr. "mark" of solidity; why is it called its 「性」 tr. "nature"? Answer: Marks accumulated by habit become nature—just as when a person is angry, and the habit goes on day after day without stopping, it becomes an evil nature. Or nature and mark are different, as seeing smoke one knows there is fire: smoke is the mark of fire but not fire; or mark and nature are not different, as heat is both the mark of fire and the nature of fire. This question and answer sets everyday words in order with great cleanness: nature is not a separate thing outside the mark; it is the mark accumulated by habit and set deep and firm; and what is set deep and firm is also fundamentally ultimately empty—habit can become nature, and nature can also be turned, and in this lies already the hinge of turning the ordinary into the noble.

14. The inconceivable is ultimate emptiness; though the days, months, and years are not long, one who can practise thus is called long. Here the Buddha speaks of the causes and conditions: form and the other dharmas are inconceivable—the inconceivable is precisely ultimate emptiness, and the real mark of all dharmas is ever pure of itself. Subhūti thereupon grasps one meaning: though the bodhisattva's days, months, and years are not long, if he can practise thus, this is called long. The earlier doubt about 「久」 tr. "long" is here fully resolved: long is not reckoned by the calendar but judged by practice—one who can refrain from discriminating any dharma, though new, is long; one who cannot, though long, is new. Having heard prajñā, Subhūti gains a still deeper benefit, and so he says to the Buddha: prajñā is very deep, because form and the rest are very deep—the mark of the very deep is as spoken before.

15. The gloss on precious treasure—able to destroy the evil poison of the three fetters, and so on up to destroying all afflictions and their residual habits; cause and effect spoken of together. The treatise-author explains 「珍寶聚」 tr. "the heap of precious treasure": precious treasure means the fruit of srota-āpanna, because it can destroy the evil poison of the three fetters; and so on up to anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi, which can destroy all afflictions and their residual habits and can fulfil all wishes. These fruits rely on the dhyānas and so on up to omniscience of all kinds—cause and effect spoken of together: this is called the heap of precious treasure. What makes treasure treasure is defined by its power to destroy poison and fulfil wishes, not by rarity or splendour; the fruits are the completion of the treasure, and the dhyānas, the knowledges, and the other dharmas are its causes; cause and effect are raised together, and so it is called a 「聚」 tr. "heap"—prajñā does not store a single jewel; it stores the whole vein of treasure running from the first fruit straight through to the fruit of buddhahood.

16. The heap of purity—practising rightly and not wrongly, not clinging even to ultimate emptiness; foolish people wish to ruin it, like one whose eyes are filmed seeing treasure and calling it impure. He explains 「清淨聚」 tr. "the heap of purity": to practise rightly and not wrongly among form and the other dharmas is called purity, without any fault or trouble; and so on up to not clinging even to ultimate emptiness and not clinging even to the inconceivable—therefore it is called the heap of purity. The treatise-author further sketches Subhūti's thought: prajñā can fulfil the wishes of all beings—the pleasure of this life, the pleasure of later lives, the pleasure of nirvāṇa, the pleasure of awakening; yet foolish and deluded people, on the contrary, wish to ruin this heap of purity. Like the wish-fulfilling jewel without flaw or stain, like space without dust or dirt, prajñā is ultimately pure; yet people give rise to the causes and conditions of wrong views of their own accord and wish to create hindrances and ruin it—just as a person whose eyes are filmed, seeing a wondrous treasure, calls it impure. The film is in the eye and the blame is laid on the treasure—the whole pathology of those who slander prajñā lies in this simile.

17. "Having had this thought"; it is most strange—when prajñā is spoken there are many hindrances; one should write quickly and cultivate quickly. The treatise-author marks 「作是念已」 tr. "having had this thought" to close off the preceding thought, and the sūtra text continues: Subhūti says: World-Honored One! It is most strange! When this prajñāpāramitā is spoken, there are many hindrances! The Buddha confirms it: this very deep prajñā has many hindrances; because of this, one who wishes to write it out should write it quickly, and when reading, reciting, reflecting, expounding, rightly recollecting, and practising, one should also practise quickly—if the writing can be completed in one month, one should write diligently, and so on, if it is completed in two months, three months, up to a year, one should still write diligently; whether it is accomplished in one month or up to a year, one should diligently accomplish it. Why? Because within this precious treasure many troubles arise. One word, 「疾」 tr. "quickly", runs through the whole passage: precious treasure draws bandits, and delay breeds change—the urgency of this Dharma-gate is established from here.

18. Though the evil Māra wishes to hinder, he cannot ruin it. Subhūti says: within this very deep prajñā, the evil Māra delights in creating hindrances, so that one cannot write it, cannot read, recite, reflect, expound, rightly recollect, or practise it. The Buddha tells Subhūti: though the evil Māra wishes to hinder this deep prajñā so that one cannot write it and so on up to practise it, he still cannot ruin this bodhisattva-mahāsattva's writing of prajñā and so on up to his practising it. The two sentences rise and fall together: Māra's 「欲」 tr. "wish" is real—the hindrances are not an enemy one has imagined; but Māra's 「能」 tr. "ability" has a limit—he wishes to ruin it and in the end cannot. Where this limit is drawn, and by what power it is drawn, is precisely Śāriputra's question below.

19. By whose power can Māra not hinder—the Buddha's power, and also the power of the buddhas presently in the ten directions. Śāriputra asks: by whose power is it that the evil Māra cannot hinder the bodhisattva's writing of the deep prajñā and so on up to his practising it? The Buddha says: it is by the Buddha's power; it is also by the power of the buddhas presently in the worlds of the ten directions—the buddhas protect and keep this bodhisattva in mind, so that Māra cannot hinder; the immeasurable, boundless, asaṃkhyeya buddhas presently in the ten directions protect and keep in mind this bodhisattva writing the deep prajñā and so on up to practising it; 「法應爾」 tr. "the Dharma is naturally so", and no one can create hindrance. Good men and good women should form this thought: that I write this deep prajñā and so on up to practise it is all by the power of the buddhas of the ten directions. The three Chinese characters rendered here as "the Dharma is naturally so" weigh the most: the buddhas' protection of those who practise prajñā is not a special gift of favour; it is the constant law of the Dharma-realm—for the practitioner to keep the buddhas' power in mind is precisely to credit the achievement to the Dharma and not to rely on oneself.

20. All by the Buddha's power; one should know that they are protected by the buddhas. Śāriputra goes one step further and draws the conclusion: if there are good men and good women who write this deep prajñā and so on up to practise it, it is all by the Buddha's power, and one should know that these people are protected by the buddhas. The Buddha sets his seal on it: Just so! Just so! One should know that if anyone writes this deep prajñā and so on up to practises it, it is all by the Buddha's power, and one should know that they are also protected by the buddhas. From 「佛力」 tr. "the Buddha's power" it is pushed on to 「諸佛所護」 tr. "protected by the buddhas", an advance of one word: power speaks of the working of the blessing added; protection speaks of the kindness of being gathered in—one who writes and upholds prajñā is not a lone soldier copying sūtras in an evil age, but is at every moment within the buddhas' protecting mindfulness; this sentence is the steadying pill for practitioners in an evil age.

21. The buddhas all recognise him and all see him with the Buddha-eye; he is not far from anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi; offerings of flowers, incense, necklaces, banners, and canopies. Śāriputra says: the immeasurable, boundless, asaṃkhyeya buddhas presently in the ten directions all recognise, and all see with the Buddha-eye, these good men and good women when they write the deep prajñā and so on up to practise it. The Buddha sets his seal on it and broadens it: if one who seeks the bodhisattva path writes this deep prajñā, receives and upholds it, reads, recites, rightly recollects it, and practises as it is taught, one should know that this person is not far from anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi; this person has much of the mark of faith and understanding toward the deep prajñā, and also makes offerings to it, reveres, honours, and praises it, making offerings of flowers, incense, necklaces, and so on up to banners and canopies. The buddhas all recognise, and all see with the Buddha-eye, these good men and good women. How intimate the two words 「皆識」 tr. "all recognise" are—the buddhas of the ten directions do not merely shine on him in general; they know this person.

22. The merit of offerings gains great benefit and a great result—never falling into the evil destinies, never parting from the buddhas and the six perfections. The Buddha goes on: the merit of this person's offerings will gain great benefit and a great result; because of the causes and conditions of the merit of these offerings, he will never fall into the evil destinies, and up to the ground of the avaivartika he will never part from the buddhas; because of the causes and conditions of these roots of goodness, up to anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi, he will never part from the six perfections, never part from inner emptiness and so on up to the emptiness of non-existent and existent dharmas, from the four foundations of mindfulness and so on up to the eightfold noble path, from the Buddha's ten powers and so on up to anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi. 「終不遠離」 tr. "Never part from", running through several sentences, is the deepest layer of the result: not falling into the evil destinies is leaving suffering; not parting from the buddhas and the dharmas is drawing near to the path—the result of making offerings to prajñā is never, life after life, leaving the track of prajñā.

23. Hindrances are deeds of Māra; because conditioned dharmas cannot be trusted, write quickly; the sūtra-scrolls of the prajñā family are more and fewer. The treatise-author explains: hindrances are the deeds of Māra and the like, causes and conditions that ruin prajñā. The Buddha approves what Subhūti said about writing quickly and practising quickly—the reason for quickness is that conditioned dharmas cannot be trusted, and many hindrances arise. He further examines the actual state of the scrolls: the sūtra-scrolls of the prajñā family are more and fewer, of upper, middle, and lower size—the Praise of Light, the Emission of Light, and the Practice of the Way; those who write are slow or quick—some write diligently with one mind, some are lax and not diligent; the human body is impermanent, and conditioned dharmas cannot be trusted; because Śākyamuni Buddha appeared in an evil age there are many hindrances—therefore it is said that what can be finished in one month should be written diligently to completion, without abandoning it midway, and so on up to a year; as with writing, so too with practice; according to whether people's faculties are sharp or dull, it may be slow or quick. The four words 「人身無常」 tr. "the human body is impermanent" are the true footnote to 「疾」 tr. "quickly": it is not the Dharma that hurries people; it is impermanence that hurries them.

24. In the world, because of precious things, there are many bandits; Māra's people and evil ghosts enter bodies and harass them, and wreck the writing of prajñā. Here the Buddha further speaks of the causes and conditions: in the world, because of precious things, many bandits appear; prajñā is precisely the great precious treasure, and so it has many hindrances. The treatise-author explains the marks of hindrance: although there are sickness, hunger, and the like, because the deeds of Māra are great it is said to be the deeds of Māra—whether Māra, or Māra's people, or evil ghosts create evil causes and conditions, entering people's bodies and harassing their bodies and minds, and wreck the writing of prajñā; or make those who write weary of it, or make affairs of the country arise, or make those who write unable to obtain offerings, and so on. The simile of bandits turns the 「多」 tr. "many" of the hindrances into a necessity: the weightier the treasure, the more the bandits gather—meeting trouble is not a sign that practice has gone wrong, but precisely the converse proof that the Dharma one holds is precious; knowing this, when one meets trouble one does not doubt the Dharma.

25. The troubles of reading, reciting, and expounding—slandering the teacher, the jibe of the naked man and heavenly garments; Māra takes the form of a śramaṇa and ruins right recollection. When reading and reciting, teacher and disciples are not in harmony. When expounding the Dharma in the great assembly, sometimes someone comes and speaks of the faults of the Dharma-teacher; or says he cannot practise as he speaks, so what is the use of listening to him; or says that although he can keep the precepts he is dull of faculty and does not understand the deep meaning, so listening to what he says is of no benefit at all; or says that prajñā is empty and without anything existent, destroys all dharmas, and has no place to practise—like a naked man who says of himself, "I wear heavenly garments." As for not rightly recollecting: Māra takes on a fine body, the body of a good friend, or takes the form of a śramaṇa whom one reveres and trusts, and speaks for one of prajñā as empty and without anything existent, saying that although there are the names of sin and merit there is no principle to them, or saying that prajñā is empty and one may take nirvāṇa at once—such things wreck the right recollection of those who cultivate the Buddha path. The most dangerous hindrance does not wear the mark of Māra; it wears the mark of a good friend, the mark of a śramaṇa; every sentence of its speech carries the word 「空」 tr. "empty", and every word misuses emptiness—using emptiness to brush away sin and merit, using emptiness to urge the taking of nirvāṇa: all this is Māra's speech.

26. The great can break the small—the power of the true wisdom of prajñā is very great; the deeds of Māra are false and deceptive. A bodhisattva who has newly aroused intent, hearing these things, is greatly startled and terrified in mind: we have bodies of birth and death, and Māra is the lord of the desire realm, with very great might—how can we practise prajñā and attain the unsurpassed path? Therefore the Buddha says that though the evil Māra wishes to hinder, he still cannot ruin it. Why? Because the great can break the small—as one free of desire always overcomes one who is greedy and desirous, one of kindness and compassion always overcomes one who is angry, the wise always overcome the unwise; prajñā is true wisdom, its power is very great, and the deeds of Māra are false and deceptive; though the bodhisattva has not yet attained full prajñā, because he has gained a share of its breath, Māra cannot ruin him. The contest of powers lies not in might and rank but in true and false: Māra's greatness is a greatness within the desire realm; prajñā's greatness is the greatness of having gone beyond the false and deceptive—the phrase 「得其氣分」 tr. "gained a share of its breath" is especially worth savouring: without waiting for fullness, merely touching the edge of prajñā, Māra can already do nothing.

27. By the Buddha's power; the Buddha's power spoken of first is Śākyamuni, and afterward the buddhas presently in the ten directions; prajñā is the mother of the buddhas of the ten directions. Because of these causes and conditions, Śāriputra asks by whose power Māra cannot ruin it, and the Buddha answers that it is by the Buddha's power. The treatise-author opens it out: among evil people Māra is the greatest, among good people the Buddha is the greatest; among those who bind people Māra is the greatest, among those who release people the Buddha is the greatest; among those who hinder people Māra is the greatest, among those who clear the way the Buddha is the greatest. The Buddha's power spoken of first is Śākyamuni Buddha; the buddhas presently in the ten directions spoken of afterward are the other buddhas—Akṣobhya, Amitābha, and the like. As an evil bandit has other evil ones to help him, so too with the Dharma of the buddhas: always, for the sake of all beings, whenever someone arouses intent they act as his protectors. Why? Prajñāpāramitā is the mother of the buddhas of the ten directions; when someone wishes to ruin it, they cannot but protect it. The meaning of protecting the Dharma is gathered into the one word 「母」 tr. "mother": a child protects its mother by its very nature—the buddhas' protection of prajñā is not a duty imposed from outside; it is that from which the Dharma body and the life of wisdom come forth.

28. Seeing, knowing, and keeping in mind with the Buddha-eye—able to do a great thing without yet having broken Māra's net, a merit rarely had. Śāriputra says: if anyone writes and upholds it and so on up to practises it, they are all protected by the buddhas. The Buddha approves his words. He asks further: do the buddhas presently in the ten directions all see, know, and keep in mind with the Buddha-eye the good men and good women who write, uphold, and so on? The Buddha approves, saying: just so. The treatise-author explains the levels: first, the evil Māra comes wishing to ruin it, and the Buddha and the buddhas of the ten directions guard it and do not let it be spoiled; now they see this person with the Buddha-eye and know that this person's merit is rarely had—without yet having broken Māra's net, he can carry out this great matter of prajñā, and therefore the buddhas of the ten directions see, know, and keep this person in mind with the Buddha-eye. Protection wards off the troubles from outside; keeping in mind values the virtue within: his body is inside Māra's net and yet his hand does not let go of the scroll—this rarity is precisely what the Buddha-eye rests upon.

29. The divine eye is of two kinds; the Dharma-eye and the wisdom-eye, entering the Buddha-eye, each have what they see. Question: Is it seen with the divine eye, or seen with the Buddha-eye? If it is seen with the divine eye, why is the Buddha-eye spoken of here? If it is seen with the Buddha-eye, since beings are false and deceptive, how are they seen with the Buddha-eye? Answer: The divine eye is of two kinds—contained in the Buddha-eye and not contained: the one not contained sees beings of the present, limited and measurable; the one contained sees beings of the three times, without limit and without measure. The Dharma-eye, entering the Buddha-eye, sees only dharmas and does not see beings; the wisdom-eye, entering the Buddha-eye, does not see dharmas but sees only ultimate emptiness. Here the framework for distinguishing the five eyes is set up: the Buddha-eye is not a separate eye placed outside the four eyes; it is the perfect functioning of the four eyes once they have entered the position of a buddha—because it contains the divine eye it sees beings without measure, because it contains the Dharma-eye it sees dharmas, because it contains the wisdom-eye it sees emptiness; each has charge of its own illumination, and all return alike to the one Buddha-eye.

30. What is contained in the Buddha-eye is all real; beings are false with respect to nirvāṇa, not false as seen in the world. Question: Is the divine eye contained in the Buddha-eye real or false? If false, the Buddha should not see with what is false; if real, beings are empty—even present beings are not real, how much less future and past ones? Answer: What is contained in the Buddha-eye is all real. Beings are false with respect to nirvāṇa; it is not that what is seen in the world is false; because people grasp a fixed mark in beings it is said that they are false—it is not with regard to worldly truth that they are said to be false. For this reason, the divine eye contained in the Buddha-eye sees beings. The judgement of false and real rests on which truth is being faced: in terms of nirvāṇa and the limit of reality, the mark of beings is false; in terms of worldly truth, beings are plainly there—the Buddha sees beings by worldly truth, and sees without grasping a fixed mark, and so he sees false and deceptive beings and yet his seeing is wholly real.

31. The wisdom-eye is signless and not fit for contemplating beings; the simile of the small child and the small stick; spoken for the sake of worldly truth. Question: If so, why are beings not seen with the wisdom-eye contained in the Buddha-eye? Answer: Because the wisdom-eye is signless and sharp—the wisdom-eye is always joined with emptiness, the signless, and non-action, and is not fit for contemplating beings. Why? The coming together of the five aggregates is provisionally named a being; it is like a small child, who may be whipped with a small stick but must not be given the large stick. Here the praise of the bodhisattva practising prajñā is spoken for the sake of worldly truth, not the truth of the highest meaning. The meaning of the simile is subtle: the provisionally named being cannot withstand the direct illumination of the wisdom-eye of ultimate emptiness, as a small child cannot withstand the large stick—illumined by it, the provisional name scatters and breaks down, and there is no 「眾生」 tr. "being" to be seen or kept in mind; to see, know, protect, and keep beings in mind, one must use the divine eye that works within worldly truth. Each eye has its use, and they do not overstep one another.

32. Though the future does not yet exist, noble wisdom can know and see it; within prajñā there is no discrimination of the three times. Question: The future world does not yet exist; even to know it by thought is hard, how much more to see it with the eye? Answer: Just as past dharmas, though ceased and without anything existent, can be remembered—past events, and all of one's former lives—through the power of recollection among the mind and mental-factor dharmas; so too the noble ones have the power of noble wisdom, and though a thing has not yet arisen they can know it and see it. Again, within this prajñā there is no discrimination of the three times, and future, past, and present are not different: if one sees the present, one should also see the past and future; if one does not see the past and future, one should also not see the present. Of the two answers one is shallow and one deep: the shallow answer uses the power of recollecting former lives as the example that establishes knowledge of the future; the deep answer goes straight to the equality of the three times in prajñā—the separation of the three times is set up by discrimination in the first place, and once discrimination has dissolved, seeing the present and seeing the future are one and the same unobstructed seeing.

33. The sinful people of the north in the age of the Dharma's end—why does the Buddha see, know, and keep them in mind? Great compassion's love penetrating to the marrow; that they can have faith in an evil age is what is hard. Question: The beings of the north in the age of the Dharma's end have not exhausted their outflows and fetters; they are sinful and evil people—why does the Buddha see, know, and keep them in mind? Answer: The mark of the Buddha's great compassion is a love that penetrates to the bone and marrow; these bodhisattvas can arouse the mind of the unsurpassed path for the sake of beings; the Buddha sees that this Dharma will blaze at the very end, and that after my nirvāṇa these people will help the Buddha's Dharma—therefore he keeps them in mind and knows them. Again, the people of the north at the end are born in a border land in an evil age, where the three poisons blaze, in the midst of the kalpa of swords and weapons, and the worthy and noble are rare; these people do not of themselves know the causes and conditions of sinful and meritorious karma, yet merely hearing from others, or reading the sūtras, they can believe, delight, and make offerings, and quickly draw near to the unsurpassed path—this is what is hard! If, while the Buddha was in the world, one became an avaivartika and practised prajñā in faith, that would not be counted hard. The judgement of hard and easy overturns the view of pure and defiled: faith in an evil age is worth more than realisation in a flourishing age—the reason the Buddha-eye rests especially on the practitioners of the age of the Dharma's end is precisely that it is hard for them.

34. Because the mark of faith and understanding is great, they can make offerings; the great result—never parting from the buddhas, like a small child not parting from its mother. Because these people's mark of faith and understanding is great, they can make offerings to prajñā; the things offered, flowers, incense, and so on, are as spoken before; by these offerings they gain a great result—just as those who disparage it receive great suffering and affliction, the two set against each other. As for the great result: as the srota-āpanna never falls into the three evil destinies, so too is this bodhisattva who with one mind has faith in, understands, and makes offerings to prajñā. Because he loves and keeps in mind the buddhas, and because he always practises the samādhi of recollecting the Buddha, he never parts from the buddhas; and once he reaches the ground of the avaivartika and teaches and transforms beings, there is no fault in his parting from the buddhas. It is like a small child not parting from its mother, for fear of falling into troubles. Because he always deeply loves and keeps in mind wholesome dharmas, up to awakening he never parts from the six perfections and the rest—he gains such a great result in this life and later lives. The simile of mother and child is cut with great precision: before reaching non-retrogression, one relies on the buddhas as a child relies on its mother; having reached the stage of non-retrogression, there is no fault in parting from the buddhas—reliance has its season; it is not a clinging forever.

35. After the Buddha's parinirvāṇa the deep prajñā will go to the south—those who write, uphold, read, and recite do not fall into the evil destinies, and gradually attain nirvāṇa by the three vehicles. The sūtra text turns to the record of its spreading: Śāriputra! After the Buddha's parinirvāṇa, this deep prajñā will go to the lands of the south, and there bhikṣus, bhikṣuṇīs, upāsakas, and upāsikās will write this deep prajñā, will receive and uphold, read, recite, reflect on, expound, rightly recollect, and practise it; because of the causes and conditions of these roots of goodness, they will never fall into the evil destinies, and will receive the pleasures among gods and humans; they will increase the six perfections, and make offerings to, revere, honour, and praise the buddhas; and gradually, by the vehicle of the śrāvakas, of the pratyekabuddhas, and of the Buddha, they will attain nirvāṇa. The four assemblies raised together and the seven things listed in full are the whole picture of upholding the Dharma after the extinction; the one sentence ‘gradually attain nirvāṇa by the three vehicles’ is especially broad—those whom prajñā delivers are not limited to one vehicle; according to the slowness or quickness of their faculties and natures, in the end all are delivered.

36. From the south it turns to the west—the four assemblies write and uphold it, and the result is as before. It records the second stage: this deep prajñā, from the south, will turn to the places of the west, and there bhikṣus, bhikṣuṇīs, upāsakas, and upāsikās will write this deep prajñā, will receive and uphold, read, recite, reflect on, expound, rightly recollect, and practise it; because of the causes and conditions of these roots of goodness, they will never fall into the evil destinies, and will receive the pleasures among gods and humans; they will increase the six perfections, and make offerings to, revere, honour, and praise the buddhas; and gradually, by the vehicle of the śrāvakas, of the pratyekabuddhas, and of the Buddha, they will attain nirvāṇa. The sūtra text repeats the whole sentence without omitting a single word—where the Dharma arrives, the result arrives with it: the place changes but the Dharma does not change, and the result does not change; the repeated sentence-pattern itself proclaims the equality of the benefit of prajñā, which neither increases nor decreases according to region.

37. From the west it turns to the north, and the north will do the work of the Buddha—when my Dharma flourishes, it has no mark of extinction; I see these people with the Buddha-eye. The third stage: from the west it will turn to the north, and there the four assemblies will write, uphold, read, recite, and so on up to practise it, and the result is as before. One more record is added: this deep prajñā—at that time the north will do the work of the Buddha. Why? When my Dharma flourishes, it has no mark of extinction. The Buddha says: I already keep in mind those who receive and uphold the deep prajñā and so on up to practise it, and also keep in mind those who can write it out, revere it, and make offerings to it; these people will never fall into the evil destinies, will receive the pleasures among gods and humans, will increase the six perfections, and will gradually attain nirvāṇa by the three vehicles. Why? I see these people with the Buddha-eye, and I also acclaim and praise them; the immeasurable, boundless, asaṃkhyeya buddhas of the ten directions also see these people with the Buddha-eye, and also acclaim and praise them. 「我法盛時，無有滅相」 tr. "When my Dharma flourishes, it has no mark of extinction"—the land of the age of the Dharma's end becomes instead the field of the work of the Buddha; this sentence is the greatest single guarantee the whole chapter gives to practitioners of the last age.

38. In a later time it will spread widely in the north; those who can write and uphold it long ago aroused the mind of the Great Vehicle. Śāriputra says to the Buddha: will this deep prajñā, in a later time, spread widely in the north? The Buddha says: Just so! Just so! In a later time it will spread widely in the north. He further records its people: in a later time in the north, if good men and good women hear this deep prajñā, and write it, receive and uphold, read, recite, reflect on, expound, rightly recollect it, and practise as it is taught, one should know that these people long ago aroused the mind of the Great Vehicle, have made offerings to many buddhas, have planted roots of goodness, and have long kept company with good friends. The record of its spreading widely and the way of recognising its people come out together: that the Dharma will spread widely is the effect; that the people who can uphold it have deep and long-standing affinities is the cause—those who uphold the sūtra in the last age should not slight themselves: to be able, in that time and that place, to meet this Dharma and uphold it is already proof of long cultivation.

39. Many seek the Buddha path; few hear the deep prajñā without sinking and without being startled; being of one mind and in harmony, Māra cannot spoil them. Śāriputra asks: in a later time in the north, how many good men and good women will write the deep prajñā and so on up to practise as it is taught? The Buddha answers: though there are many who seek the Buddha path, few hear this deep prajñā without sinking, without being startled, without being terrified, without being afraid. Why? These people have drawn near to and made offerings to many buddhas, and have often consulted the buddhas with questions; they will surely be able to fulfil the six perfections, the four foundations of mindfulness, and so on up to the eighteen unshared dharmas; because their roots of goodness are pure and thick they can benefit many beings. I now speak for these people the dharma that accords with sarvajñā, and the buddhas of the past also spoke for these people the dharma that accords with sarvajñā; because of these causes and conditions, in later births they go on to obtain the mind of awakening and also speak the dharma of awakening for others. These people are all of one mind and in harmony, and Māra or Māra's people cannot spoil their mind of awakening—how much less those of evil conduct who disparage! These people, hearing the deep prajñā, greatly gain the joy of the Dharma and the delight of the Dharma, and also establish many people in roots of goodness. Between the many and the few is drawn the true threshold of practising in faith; and the four words 「一心和合」 tr. "of one mind and in harmony" are the first line of defence of the Saṅgha against Māra.

40. The Buddha appeared in the east, and prajñā circles Jambudvīpa to the right—like the sun, the moon, and the five planets, like the constant rule of offerings. The treatise-author explains: 「佛滅度後，當至南方國土」 tr. "After the Buddha's passing into extinction, it will go to the lands of the south"—the Buddha appeared in the east, and there expounded prajñā, broke Māra and Māra's people and those of the outside paths, and delivered immeasurable beings, and afterward passed into extinction beneath the twin trees at Kuśinagara; later prajñā went from the east to the south. It is like the sun and moon, the five planets, and the twenty-eight lunar mansions, which constantly go from the east to the south, to the west, to the north, circling Mount Sumeru; and again like the constant rule of offerings, circling to the right, delivering the people of Jambudvīpa everywhere. For these causes and conditions, it goes from the east to the south and from the south to the west. The sūtra is explained with a double simile of the heavenly bodies and the rites: the turning of the Dharma is not a chance migration; it is a constant way like the sun and moon moving across the sky, and a way in accord with the Dharma like circling to the right in reverence—prajñā going once around Jambudvīpa is precisely delivering once all around.

41. The Buddha, with an unattached mind, is not fixed in one place, and prajñā too does not stay fixed in one place; two regions receive the result, and later it passes on to the north. As the Buddha, because his mind is unattached, is not fixed in one place, so too prajñā does not stay fixed in one place. From the west to the north: the beings of these two regions love to make offerings, to write, to read, and so on up to practise it, with flowers, incense, and so on up to banners and canopies, and they receive a great result, as said in the sūtra; later it passes on to the north. The result obtained here from offerings is as said above. 「不定住一處」 tr. "Does not stay fixed in one place" turns the mark of the spreading one level further: the Dharma is not tied to a place, as the Buddha is not tied to a location—prajñā is not carried off at people's invitation; it is an unattached Dharma that moves of itself in response to conditions; wherever there are the conditions of offering, writing, and upholding, there the Dharma appears.

42. The north will do the work of the Buddha—five hundred years after the Buddha's extinction, both kinds of people, sharp and dull, will over a long, long time all be delivered. 「北方當作佛事」 tr. "The north will do the work of the Buddha"—here the causes and conditions are spoken: while the Buddha was present he could cut off the doubts of the assembly, the Buddha's Dharma flourished, and there was no fear of the Dharma's extinction; five hundred years after the Buddha's extinction, the true Dharma gradually dies out, and at that time the work of the Buddha grows harder. At that time those of sharp faculties read, recite, and rightly recollect, and also make offerings of flowers and incense; those of dull faculties write it out and make offerings of flowers, incense, and so on—these two kinds of people will over a long, long time all be delivered, and therefore it is said that it will do the work of the Buddha. Here the meaning of the work of the Buddha is widened: at the time the true Dharma gradually dies out, reading and reciting, writing out, recollecting, and flowers and incense—the sharp and the dull each doing their part—are all the work of the Buddha; in the age of the Dharma's end there is no small practice: all who turn toward prajñā will over a long, long time be delivered.

43. It spreads widely because the north of Jambudvīpa is broad; because the snowy mountains are cold, the three poisons cannot greatly arise, and the five faculties gain strength. The Buddha says: these good men and good women, I and the buddhas of the ten directions all see with the Buddha-eye, and keep in mind, know, and praise. Śāriputra says to the Buddha: will this deep prajñā spread widely in the north? The treatise-author explains 「廣行」 tr. "spread widely": because the north of Jambudvīpa is broad and great. Again, in the land of the north there are the snowy mountains; because the snowy mountains are cold, the medicinal herbs can kill all poisons; in the rice and grain that people eat, the three poisons cannot greatly arise; because the three poisons cannot greatly arise, beings are pliant, and the five faculties beginning with faith all gain strength—for causes and conditions such as these, prajñā is much practised in the north. When these people hear the deep prajñā, write and uphold it, and so on up to practise as it is taught, one should know that these people long ago aroused the intention of the Great Vehicle, have made offerings to many buddhas, planted roots of goodness, and kept company with good friends, and so in an evil age they can write, uphold, believe, receive, and so on up to practise as it is taught. The account of water and soil is not abstract talk: body and mind depend on each other, and the arising of the three poisons also borrows outer conditions—where the conditions of the environment are pliant, the five faculties easily gain strength; this is the principle of the dependent recompense aiding the direct recompense.

44. Few have minds that penetrate without being startled or sinking; drawing near to the buddhas, questioning and challenging about prajñā, fulfilling the six perfections and the thirty-seven limbs of the path. Śāriputra asks how many people in the north can write, read, recite, and so on up to practise as it is taught. The Buddha answers: this deep prajñā is hard to know and hard to practise; though many people arouse the mind of the unsurpassed path and gain the name of bodhisattva, few hear this prajñā with a mind that penetrates it, without being startled, without sinking. The mark of a mind that penetrates without being startled or terrified the Buddha himself speaks of: these people have drawn near to many buddhas—through immeasurable ages they have always seen the buddhas and revered them and made offerings; as for 「問難」 tr. "questioning and challenging", asking directly about a matter is questioning, and when the doubting mind is not resolved, asking again in all kinds of ways is called challenging—these people, life after life, have questioned and challenged the buddhas about the matters of prajñā. Though the fruit of these people's merit is not yet complete, one should know that they fulfil the six perfections, the thirty-seven limbs of the path, and so on up to the eighteen unshared dharmas. The gloss on 「問難」 tr. "questioning and challenging" is most worth taking as a model: to doubt and not ask is to mislead oneself; to ask and not get to the bottom is to deceive oneself—only by questioning and challenging life after life does one question out a faith that is not startled and does not sink.

45. Because their merit is pure and ripe they benefit many beings; as when one lamp is lit, one from another they are all lit. Because this merit is pure and ripe they benefit many beings: because of the causes and conditions of dānapāramitā and śīlapāramitā, they are born into rich and noble families, and practise giving themselves and teach others to give; because of the causes and conditions of kṣāntipāramitā and dhyānapāramitā, they cause immeasurable beings to leave home, receive the precepts, and arouse the mind of anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi. Here the Buddha speaks of the causes and conditions: these people heard from me and from the buddhas of the past the Great Vehicle Dharma that accords with sarvajñā, and therefore in later births they do not lose this mind; these people also teach and transform others, speaking of such matters—as when one lamp is lit, one from another they are all lit. The simile of the lamp gathers in the whole meaning of the teacher's transmission: one lamp lights a hundred lamps, light upon light without end, and the first lamp is not diminished—the hearer of the Dharma turns into a speaker of the Dharma, and the life of the true Dharma rests entirely on this one 「展轉」 tr. "one from another".

46. Because their afflictions are thin they are of one mind and in harmony, and Māra finds no opening; evil conduct that is not evil, like a noble one not yet free of desire. These people's afflictions are thin; because they are without stinginess and greed, jealousy, and hatred, they do not slander one another, and are always of one mind and in harmony, and therefore Māra or Māra's people cannot spoil them. If a person has even a little flaw, Māra gets his opening, like a person with a sore receiving poison. Māra, the lord of the desire realm, still cannot spoil them—how much less people of evil conduct! Or there are people of evil conduct who are not evil, like a noble one not yet free of desire; for this reason it is said: people of evil conduct who disparage prajñā are precisely ruining bodhisattvas. The simile of the sore and the poison admonishes to the utmost: the poison does not choose the person; it chooses the sore to enter—Māra's getting an opening lies not in Māra's strength, but in the gap of one's own afflictions. And the distinction 「惡行而非惡」 tr. "evil conduct that is not evil" is most fair and forgiving: seeing that someone's traces of conduct are lacking, one may not at once judge the person—the judgement lies in whether or not he disparages prajñā, not in the marks of his traces.

47. Loving the Buddha's Dharma and deeply attached to the real Dharma; because they gain the mind of great kindness and great compassion, according to beings' strength they lead them into prajñā. Again, these good men and good women, for immeasurable ages, have loved the Buddha's Dharma and been deeply attached to the real Dharma; because their power of faith and power of wisdom are great, they hear the deep prajñā; because they gain the mind of great kindness and great compassion, according to beings' strength they lead them into the deep prajñā, or lead them to gain the causes and conditions of prajñā—namely giving, keeping the precepts, and the other roots of goodness. 「為阿耨多羅三藐三菩提故」 tr. "For the sake of anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi" means that these people, because they seek the unsurpassed path, teach others to abide in roots of goodness and merit. The method of delivering people lies in the four words 「隨眾生力」 tr. "according to beings' strength": those whose strength can bear entering the deep are led straight into prajñā; those whose strength cannot yet bear it are first given the conditions of giving and keeping the precepts—the causes and conditions of prajñā are also of prajñā's household, and in receiving and guiding no one is abandoned.

48. Before me and before the buddhas of the past they made the vow to deliver countless beings; I know their minds, and I too rejoice. The sūtra text goes on to record their original vow: these good men and good women made a vow before me—when I practise the bodhisattva path, I will deliver countless hundreds of thousands of ten-thousands of koṭi of beings, causing them to arouse the mind of anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi, showing, teaching, benefiting, and gladdening them, up to receiving the prediction at the ground of the avaivartika; I know their minds, and I too rejoice. These people also made such vows before the buddhas of the past, and the buddhas of the past also knew their minds and rejoiced. The vow is made before the Buddha, and the Buddha knows it and rejoices—a vow is not a soliloquy; it is a promise with a witness; today's ability to uphold and practise is the redemption of the vow of long ago, and the rejoicing of the buddhas of the three times follows it all the way.

49. The mind is great, what is received is great, great giving, a great result; taking on a body to gather beings, and vowing to be born before the buddhas of other quarters. The Buddha says: what these good men and good women do is done with a great mind, the form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and dharmas they receive are also great, and they can also give greatly; having given greatly, they plant great roots of goodness; having planted great roots of goodness, they gain a great result. In order to gather beings they take on a body, and among beings they can give away all their possessions, inner and outer. Because of the causes and conditions of these roots of goodness, they vow to be born in the worlds of other quarters where the buddhas presently expound the deep prajñā; having heard this deep prajñā before the buddhas, there too they show, teach, benefit, and gladden hundreds of thousands of ten-thousands of koṭi of beings, causing them to arouse the mind of awakening. The six words 「大」 tr. "great" give rise to one another step by step: because the mind is great, what is received is great; because what is received is great, the giving is great; because the giving is great, the roots are great and the result is great—and the use of the result lies not in enjoying it oneself, but in taking on a body to gather beings, being reborn before the buddhas, and in turn transforming hundreds of thousands of ten-thousands of koṭi of people.

50. There is no dharma of the three times the Buddha does not know; of those who diligently seek the six perfections, some obtain and some do not. Śāriputra says to the Buddha: Rare! World-Honored One! Among dharmas of the past, future, and present there is no dharma the Buddha does not know, no mark of dharmas known that he does not know, no matter of beings' conduct that he does not know; he fully knows the past buddhas and bodhisattvas and śrāvakas, and also knows the bodhisattvas and śrāvakas in the worlds of the buddhas presently in the ten directions, and also knows the future buddhas, bodhisattvas, and śrāvakas. World-Honored One! In the future world there will be good men and good women who diligently seek the six perfections, receive and uphold them, read, recite, and so on up to practise them—will some obtain them and some not obtain them? The Buddha tells Śāriputra: if with one mind, with vigour, they diligently seek, they will obtain the sūtras that accord with the six perfections. Śāriputra asks again: practising diligently in this way, will they obtain these deep sūtras that accord with the six perfections? The praise of his wisdom and the question are linked: precisely because the Buddha knows the three times everywhere, the question about obtaining the Dharma in the future has something to rest on—what is asked is whether the sūtra-scrolls are obtained or lost; what is at stake is whether the life of wisdom survives or perishes.

51. The record of obtaining the deep sūtras that accord with the six perfections—turning to a later body, they obtain them easily, up to attaining anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi. The Buddha says to Śāriputra: these good men and good women will obtain these deep sūtras that accord with the six perfections. Why? These people, for the sake of anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi, expound the Dharma to beings, showing, teaching, benefiting, and gladdening them, causing them to abide in the six perfections; because of these causes and conditions, turning to a later body they easily obtain the deep sūtras that accord with the six perfections; having obtained them, they practise as the six perfections teach, with vigour and diligence and without rest, up to purifying buddha-worlds, bringing beings to maturity, and attaining anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi. The cause of obtaining the sūtras is expounding the Dharma to others: one who gives the Dharma to others has the Dharma given back to him—that he easily obtains the deep sūtras in a later body is not a chance stroke of fortune; it is the natural return of the karmic power of the gift of Dharma.

52. The Buddha and the buddhas of the past rejoice because they know their minds are great; the difference between those of great mind and those who practise mixed merit. The treatise-author explains: the Buddha says that good men and good women made vows before me and before the buddhas of the past, and that I and the buddhas of the past know that these good men have great minds and can accomplish something, and therefore rejoice. When these people hear that the Buddha knows their minds, they give rise to joy, recall to themselves the making of their vows in the past, and redouble their vigour. As for 「大心」 tr. "the great mind": the minds of all beings delight in taking the six sense-objects as their objects; there are people who practise mixed merit—when making merit their minds give rise to doubt and regret, and though the result of this merit brings wealth and rank, they cannot use it well and cannot give it to others, and because of the causes and conditions of sinful karma their faculties are dark and dull and do not distinguish fine from ugly. The sickness of mixed merit lies in the one word 「悔」 tr. "regret": giving and doubting and regretting, the result is discounted—being rich and unable to use it or give it away is precisely the shadow of that one thought of doubt and regret at the beginning.

53. Because of pure merit they can use it as they like and give as they wish; not seeking worldly pleasure, they vow to be born before the buddhas of the present. While these good men have not yet attained the path, because of pure merit they gain the finest and most wondrous five desires, and can also use them as they like and give them away as they wish—whether giving to the poor and needy or planting in fields of merit. If they meet a good friend and hear the Buddha's Dharma, the mind of desire comes to rest, they pity beings, and for the sake of awakening they give away all their possessions, inner and outer, grudging nothing; if they keep the precepts, they practise the ten wholesome paths everywhere, are complete in the rules of conduct of the precepts, and practise them together with a mind of kindness and compassion; the other wholesome dharmas are likewise, all practised by themselves with a deep mind, and they guide others to practise the wholesome path. Because of the causes and conditions of this merit, they do not seek worldly pleasure—the places of wealth and rank of heavenly kings and human kings; hearing that there is a place of a present buddha, they vow to go and be born there. This bodhisattva, because he knows the real mark of all dharmas, does not delight in birth; if it is for the sake of beings, he is born before the buddhas of the ten directions; he hears the deep prajñā, and having heard it, there he opens and transforms immeasurable hundreds of thousands of beings to arouse the mind of the unsurpassed path. 「不樂生」 tr. "Does not delight in birth" and ‘vows to be born’ are in one and the same person: he is weary of taking birth within birth and death, and vows to take birth in order to deliver beings—whether to take or refuse birth rests wholly on whether it is for oneself or for beings.

54. Śāriputra praises the Buddha's omniscience—from suchness, the nature of dharmas, and the limit of reality, there is nothing he does not know. Śāriputra, who does not have omniscience, hearing of the vows and practices of the bodhisattvas of the three times, gives rise to a mind of wonder and says to the Buddha: World-Honored One! Among the three times there is no dharma the Buddha does not know; from suchness, the nature of dharmas, and the limit of reality, there is nothing he does not know; the karma that beings' minds perform, and the causes and conditions of their results—there is no matter he does not know; from the buddhas presently in the ten directions, and the buddhas of the past and future worlds, together with their worlds, disciples, and what they practise—he knows them all everywhere. The Buddha's omniscience—its power is very great and inconceivable! The treatise-author expressly marks 「舍利弗無一切智」 tr. "Śāriputra does not have omniscience"—the śrāvaka foremost in wisdom, before the Buddha's wisdom, still stands in the position of looking up in praise; the measure of omniscience is not the śrāvaka's wisdom enlarged; it is another realm, illumining the three times directly from suchness, the nature of dharmas, and the limit of reality.

55. Why, seeking prajñā alike, some obtain and some do not; a good mind within, and the protection and help of the buddhas and the gods from outside; asking again about the deep sūtras. Śāriputra's thought is: all alike are renunciants who together seek prajñā—why do some obtain it and some not? The Buddha answers: if this bodhisattva always seeks the six perfections with one mind, not sparing body or life, this person has a good mind within, and from outside is protected and helped by the buddhas, the bodhisattvas, and the gods. Śāriputra's thought: though he is vigorous, the Buddha is not in the world and the power of Māra is great—how is this bodhisattva to obtain this deep sūtra of prajñā? Therefore he asks again: will they obtain these deep sūtras that accord with the six perfections? The judgement of obtaining or losing lies not in the richness or poverty of outer conditions but in the purity or mixture of the seeking mind: between one mind and sparing one's life lies the gap between obtaining and not obtaining—once the mind within is pure, protection without gathers of itself; this is of a piece, head to tail, with the main line of the whole unit, ‘roots of goodness within, the Buddha's protection without’.

56. The causes and conditions of obtaining them—expounding the Dharma for beings, by the fruit of that karma they easily obtain them in a turned body; begrudging the Dharma, one is born in a border land. The Buddha says: they will obtain them. Here are spoken the causes and conditions of obtaining: good men and good women, for the sake of the unsurpassed path, expound the Dharma for beings, showing, teaching, benefiting, and gladdening them, causing them to abide in the six perfections and opening the Buddha path; by the fruit of this karma, turning to another body they easily obtain the deep sūtras that accord with the six perfections; if they obtain them, they can quickly receive and uphold them and so on up to practise as it is taught, vigorous and not giving up, never parting from them life after life; by the result of the six perfections they purify buddha-worlds and bring beings to maturity, up to the unsurpassed path. If one begrudges the Dharma, one is ever born in a border land where there is no Buddha-dharma. The whole fascicle ends with one cool sentence: one who gives the Dharma obtains the Dharma life after life; one who begrudges the Dharma loses the Dharma life after life—a border land where there is no Buddha-dharma is no one's punishment; it is a boundary drawn by one's own karma of begrudging the Dharma; the chapter praising practice in faith ends by urging people on with the gift of Dharma.

Do Not Misread

Do not read ‘knowing that form is inconceivable, one cannot be full in prajñā’ as forbidding one to take in the understanding of the inconceivable. The Buddha himself first says that form and so on up to omniscience of all kinds are inconceivable, and therefore what is spoken is inconceivable—taking in the understanding is without fault; the sickness lies in 「住」 tr. "abiding" and 「取相」 tr. "grasping at marks": gripping the inconceivable as a realm one can set a foot on, conceiving comes back to life. To praise it is allowed; to abide in it is not.

Do not read 「皆是佛力」 tr. "it is all by the Buddha's power" as saying that the practitioner has no achievement of his own and only waits for the blessing to be added. The sūtra text holds both ends together: within, having long practised the six perfections, planted roots of goodness, drawn near to the buddhas, and followed good friends; from outside, the buddhas protecting and keeping in mind. The treatise-author says plainly that the bodhisattva, 「得其氣分故，魔不能壞」 tr. "because he has gained a share of its breath, Māra cannot ruin him"—one first touches the power of prajñā oneself, and then the Buddha's protection has something to act upon; keeping the buddhas' power in mind is not relying on oneself, not failing to practise oneself.

Do not read the Buddha's seeing beings with the Buddha-eye as saying that beings really exist, contradicting the emptiness of beings. The treatise-author judges it clearly: beings are false with respect to nirvāṇa; it is not that what is seen in the world is false; the Buddha sees beings and praises the bodhisattva by worldly truth, not the truth of the highest meaning. The wisdom-eye is not fit for contemplating beings; only the divine eye contained in the Buddha-eye sees them—each of the five eyes has its own charge, and one may not cling to one eye to challenge another.

Do not read prajñā's turning south, west, and north, and the north doing the work of the Buddha, as saying that regions are superior or inferior, or that the Dharma picks and chooses. The treatise-author explains this as a constant way like the sun and moon circling to the right, moving according to the conditions of offering, writing, and upholding; the flourishing of the north rests on the dependent arising of the snowy mountains, water, and soil causing the three poisons not to arise greatly and the five faculties to gain strength—not on the people of the north being uniquely superior in nature. In the sūtra text the result in the three regions of south, west, and north is entirely the same—the Dharma shows no partiality.

Do not read 「終不墮惡道」 tr. "never fall into the evil destinies" and 「終不遠離諸佛」 tr. "never part from the buddhas" as a protective charm guaranteed by holding the scroll. The result is tied to the causes and conditions of writing, upholding, reading, reciting, rightly recollecting, practising as it is taught, and the roots of goodness of offering; and the treatise-author says plainly that where there is even a little flaw Māra gets his opening, like a sore receiving poison—the guarantee lies in practice and upholding without a gap, not in having the scroll in hand.

Do not read the judgement on 「惡行人毀呰般若」 tr. "people of evil conduct who disparage prajñā" backwards, as saying that all whose traces of conduct are lacking belong to Māra's party. The treatise-author expressly sets up a distinction: or there are people of evil conduct who are not evil, like a noble one not yet free of desire—people are judged by their faith in or disparagement of prajñā, not by the marks of their traces at one time; using this judgement to admonish oneself is right; using it to slight others loses its intent.

Bearing on Practice

Take ‘seeing no increase or decrease’ to examine your own attitude in practice. When effort gains a little strength you feel the Dharma is increasing, and when circumstances turn against you, you feel the path is decreasing—this view of increase and decrease is precisely where you are not full. Keep in mind that even the ten grounds and sitting at the seat of awakening are like a dream, like an illusion, neither increasing nor decreasing: put the feelings of advance and retreat, gain and loss, back into ultimate emptiness, and your effort will have a lasting flavour.

Take 「日月年歲不久，能如是行，是名久」 tr. "though the days, months, and years are not long, one who can practise thus is called long" to encourage yourself and also to warn yourself. As encouragement: if you came to the Buddha's teaching late, do not give up on yourself—long is not reckoned in years; as warning: having only seniority in years while discriminating as before, you may not be called long. Each year ask yourself: my mind that discriminates among dharmas—how much lighter is it now than in years past?

Take ‘write quickly and cultivate quickly’ to cure procrastination. The human body is impermanent, conditioned dharmas cannot be trusted, and hindrances arise in plenty—what you can write today, write; what you can recite, recite; what you can practise, practise; do not lean on days to come. You can set yourself a course with a deadline: what can be accomplished in a month, accomplish diligently, without abandoning it midway.

Take the admonition about Māra taking the form of a śramaṇa to train the eye that discerns the Dharma. When you hear someone say ‘because it is empty there is no sin or merit’ or ‘because it is empty one may take nirvāṇa at once’, however venerable his appearance, know that it is speech that ruins right recollection—those who use emptiness to brush away cause and effect, or use emptiness to abandon practice, are none of them the right meaning of prajñā. Discern the Dharma, not the appearance; this passage is a mirror that shows up demons.

Take 「一心和合」 tr. "of one mind and in harmony" to guard your own place of practice. Where Māra gets his opening is in slander and rifts, as poison enters a sore; when fellow practitioners do not slander one another and are always of one mind and in harmony, Māra's people have nowhere to lay a hand. When there is a rift between you and a fellow practitioner, remember that this is opening a sore to the poison—harmony is not a matter of social courtesy; it is the city wall against Māra.

Take 「問難」 tr. "questioning and challenging" as the way to draw near to a good friend. Ask directly about the matter, and when the doubting mind is not resolved, ask again in all kinds of ways—only by questioning and challenging about the matters of prajñā life after life is a faith formed that is not startled and does not sink. To have doubts on hearing the Dharma and not ask is to leave yourself the root of fear; to ask until you reach the bottom is the true drawing near of making offerings to the buddhas.

Take ‘begrudging the Dharma, one is born in a border land’ to examine your own giving of the Dharma. When the Dharma you know meets someone able to hear it and you grudge giving it, the karma of that is to be far from the Buddha's Dharma life after life; expounding the Dharma to others, showing, teaching, benefiting, and gladdening, has as its result the easy obtaining of the deep sūtras in a later body. Whenever someone asks you about the Dharma, remember the simile of one lamp lighting a hundred lamps—giving to others is giving to oneself.

Further Resonances

What the Last Part carries on from the First Part is a single line: turning the virtue of faith into the road of practice, and then handing the road of practice over to an evil age. The First Part established the source of faith: those who hear prajñā and can have faith all owe it to having made offerings to the buddhas in former lives and having long practised the six perfections; to worship prajñā is to worship omniscience; only not abiding in form and the rest is training; very deep, hard to fathom, and immeasurable, and yet only not practising the very deep is practising prajñā; those who have newly aroused intent are startled and terrified, while those of long practice do not sink; the four similes establish the prior signs of receiving the prediction, and the good entrusting, the four means of gathering, and the ten wholesome paths gather up its conduct. The Last Part first carries the measure of faith to its utmost: only seeing no increase or decrease, and not discriminating dharma and non-dharma, mark and nature, is called full; the inconceivable, too, may not be abided in; long practice is not reckoned by years but by not discriminating; the heap of precious treasure and the heap of purity—cause and effect spoken of together, and ultimately without stain. Then it faces the evil age head-on: because precious treasure draws bandits, hindrances must be many; Māra's people and evil ghosts ruin the writing, ruin the reciting, ruin the expounding, ruin right recollection; yet the great can break the small, the power of the true wisdom of prajñā is very great, and the power of Śākyamuni Buddha and of the buddhas presently in the ten directions is its protection from without—prajñā is the mother of the buddhas of the ten directions; when someone wishes to ruin it, they cannot but protect it; the divine eye contained in the Buddha-eye sees the beings of the three times, seeing by worldly truth and not by the highest meaning; that sinful people in the age of the Dharma's end can believe, delight, and make offerings is what is hard, and so the Buddha, in great compassion, keeps them in mind and knows them. After the extinction prajñā turns south, turns west, turns north, like the sun and moon circling Sumeru to the right; the conditions of the snowy mountains of the north let the five faculties gain strength; both kinds of people, sharp and dull, will over a long, long time all be delivered; when my Dharma flourishes, it has no mark of extinction; those who can uphold it are few, yet these people long ago aroused the mind of the Great Vehicle; being of one mind and in harmony, Māra cannot spoil them, as when one lamp is lit, one from another they are all lit. At the end it traces back their original vow: before the buddhas of the three times they vowed to deliver countless beings; great mind, great giving, great result, vowing to be born before the buddhas of other quarters; those who diligently seek with one mind and with vigour will obtain the deep sūtras that accord with the six perfections; those who expound the Dharma for beings easily obtain them in a turned body; those who begrudge the Dharma are born in a border land. From the head of the chapter to its end, the three Chinese characters 「歎信行」 tr. "praise of practising in faith" here reach their full weight: the First Part praises that the people who can have faith have a source from which they come; the Last Part praises that the Dharma of practising in faith has a place to which it goes—within, fullness is completed by not discriminating; without, its not being ruined is secured by the protecting mindfulness of the buddhas; it spreads through three regions and the work of the Buddha does not cease; where faith reaches, where practice reaches, there reaches the light of the buddhas' eyes.

Further Resonances

The vein of meaning in the chapter "Praise of Practising in Faith" has something it inherits before it and something it opens after it. What it inherits is the preceding chapter, "The Perfections": in that chapter 「須菩提說一切法相讚般若，佛舉一切法答」 tr. "Subhūti speaks of the marks of all dharmas in praise of prajñā, and the Buddha answers by raising all dharmas"—boundless, indestructible, and so on up to the ten powers, the fearlessnesses, the Buddha-dharmas, and speaking as it really is, counting all the way to 「佛波羅蜜」 tr. "the Buddha pāramitā" and closing there, and the point of closure lies precisely in a single sentence: 「不以佛身故名為佛波羅蜜，但以一切種智故。」 tr. "It is not because of the Buddha's body that it is called the Buddha pāramitā, but only because of omniscience of all kinds." At the opening of this chapter, Śakra speaks precisely following on from these words: 「我禮般若波羅蜜！禮般若波羅蜜，是禮一切智」 tr. "I worship prajñāpāramitā! To worship prajñāpāramitā is to worship omniscience," and the Buddha confirms it, saying 「諸佛一切智皆從般若波羅蜜生，一切智即是般若波羅蜜」 tr. "The omniscience of the buddhas is all born from prajñāpāramitā, and omniscience is prajñāpāramitā"—the preceding chapter praised the Dharma of prajñā by its many different names, and in its praise reached omniscience of all kinds as the utmost; this chapter then turns round to praise the person who can have faith in this Dharma: since the Dharma is deep to this degree, who can have faith in it and receive it? 「得聞般若波羅蜜經耳者，是人於前世佛作功德」 tr. "Those who have the prajñāpāramitā sūtra reach their ears—these people made merit under the buddhas of former lives"—the utmost point of praising the Dharma is exactly the starting point of praising the person. As for what it opens, the chapter already shows its first signs: in the Last Part, in a passage on hindrances, the Buddha says 「是甚深般若波羅蜜，多有留難」 tr. "This very deep prajñāpāramitā has many hindrances," and the treatise explains the reason—「世間以珍寶故，多有賊出；般若即是大珍寶故，多有留難」 tr. "In the world, because of precious things, many bandits appear; because prajñā is the great precious treasure, it has many hindrances," and it enumerates in turn the marks of the difficulties in writing, reading, expounding, and rightly recollecting; yet this chapter says only that Māra cannot destroy it (「惡魔雖欲留難……亦不能破壞」 tr. "Though the evil Māra wishes to hinder … still he cannot destroy it"), and does not go on to count out in detail the items of the deeds of Māra. The next chapter, "The Deeds of Māra," opens with Subhūti following on precisely from this to ask: 「云何善男子、善女人，求於佛道，生諸留難？」 tr. "How is it that good men and good women, seeking the Buddha path, give rise to hindrances?"—this chapter speaks of protection, the next chapter speaks of difficulty; first it settles the mind (protected by the Buddha's power, Māra cannot destroy it), then it teaches discernment (what is a deed of Māra)—and the vein of meaning flows on downward from this.

Among the later ancient masters who read this chapter, what they preserved on the matter of the chapter's name is worth recording. This treatise's base text heads it 「歎信行品」 tr. "Praise of Practising in Faith," a title used by the Korean edition alone, which the Taishō follows; the fascicle headings of the four texts of the Song, Yuan, Ming, and Palace editions agree in reading 「聞持品」 tr. "Hearing and Upholding," and the Ming edition moreover cites beneath the title the sūtra-side variant name 「經耳聞持品」 tr. "Passing through the Ear, Hearing and Upholding"; the title numbering of the Shōgozō manuscript and the Ishiyama-dera manuscript differs from the base text by one step, and this is recorded as it is. In the transmitted text of the great sūtra that it explains, this chapter's title reads precisely 「聞持品第四十五」 tr. "Chapter Forty-five, Hearing and Upholding"; the one house that composed a sectional commentary on the great sūtra it explains, laying the greatest weight on the opening and closing of the outline, likewise marks this chapter uniformly throughout the whole book as 「聞持品第四十五」 tr. "Chapter Forty-five, Hearing and Upholding," the same in both places, the outline and the main explanation, and no use of 「歎信行」 tr. "Praise of Practising in Faith" is found. There is another ancient master who once composed a commentary on this treatise itself; his work survives today in incomplete fascicles, and this chapter is not among those that survive—this is recorded as it is, without forcing a connection; and in all the commentaries and records on calming and contemplation of the Tiantai line that could be searched, no text of this chapter is found cited by name as 「歎信行品」 tr. "Praise of Practising in Faith" or as 「聞持品」 tr. "Hearing and Upholding"—although the words 「信行」 tr. "practising in faith" and 「法行」 tr. "practising by the Dharma" appear there again and again, they are all general terms in the classification of the worthy and the noble, and have nothing to do with this chapter. The meanings of the two names each have their own tie: the name 「聞持」 tr. "Hearing and Upholding" is tied to Śakra's thought at the opening—「得聞般若波羅蜜經耳者」 tr. "those who have the prajñāpāramitā sūtra reach their ears"; the two characters 「經耳」 tr. "reach the ear" cited by the Ming edition point precisely to this sentence, taking the beginning, where one hears and can uphold; the name 「歎信行」 tr. "Praise of Practising in Faith" takes the substance of the whole chapter—Śakra, Śāriputra, and Subhūti in turn praise the people who can have faith in, receive, and practise prajñā respectfully, praising straight from its reaching their ears to the passing on of the lamp in the last age. One chapter with two names: one picks out its beginning, the other holds up its whole; both are recorded without judgement; this edition follows the base text and reads "Praise of Practising in Faith."

Bringing this whole line of further resonances back to this chapter, the divergence in the chapter's name that the ancient masters recorded precisely illuminates two sides of the chapter's meaning: those who take 「聞持」 tr. "Hearing and Upholding" as its name see the gate—merely to have it reach the ear once is already the proof of having 「於前世佛作功德」 tr. "made merit under the buddhas of former lives"; the gate into the path is so low that a single hearing is already it; those who take 「歎信行」 tr. "Praise of Practising in Faith" as its name see the road—hearing and having faith, having faith and upholding, upholding and practising, practising and being met by what the Buddha-eye sees and what the buddhas protect, and on up to the time when prajñā comes forth in the east and turns to the north and 「北方當作佛事」 tr. "the north will do the work of the Buddha," it is still people of this same kind, practising in faith, who are 「如然一燈，展轉皆然」 tr. "as when one lamp is lit, one from another they are all lit." And this chapter itself had long since gathered the gate and the road into one: though the gate of faith is low, its source is extremely deep—「若先世不久行檀波羅蜜、尸羅波羅蜜、羼提波羅蜜、毘梨耶波羅蜜、禪波羅蜜、般若波羅蜜，終不能信解深般若波羅蜜」 tr. "If in former lives one has not long practised dānapāramitā, śīlapāramitā, kṣāntipāramitā, vīryapāramitā, dhyānapāramitā, and prajñāpāramitā, one will never be able to have faith in and understand the deep prajñāpāramitā"; though the road of faith is far, its protection is extremely real—「般若波羅蜜是十方諸佛母，人欲沮壞，不得不護」 tr. "Prajñāpāramitā is the mother of the buddhas of the ten directions; when someone wishes to ruin it, they cannot but protect it." Speaking of the proof, it speaks all the way to practising even in dreams as all being prior signs; speaking of protection, it speaks all the way to the buddhas of the ten directions all seeing with the Buddha-eye; reaching both ends, it returns to a single phrase, 「不住」 tr. "not abiding"—「若不住色中，為習行般若波羅蜜」 tr. "If one does not abide in form, that is training in prajñāpāramitā": what is believed being thus without abiding, the one who can believe only then comes to his greatness.

Therefore what the chapter "Praise of Practising in Faith" finally leaves behind is a way of asking the road that can be used again and again: when I hear the deep Dharma and my mind is not at ease, I remember that 「不驚、不怖、不畏」 tr. "not startled, not terrified, not afraid" is the sign by which past-life affinity is proved, not a resource for boasting of present strength—being startled and terrified need not make me give myself up: 「譬如新劈乾毳，隨風東西」 tr. "it is like freshly split dry wool, which goes east and west with the wind"; wet it, felt it, and with long cultivation it cannot be moved; when I seek outer protection, I remember that 「我書是深般若波羅蜜乃至修行，皆是十方諸佛力」 tr. "my writing out this deep prajñāpāramitā, and so on up to cultivating it, is all the power of the buddhas of the ten directions"—protection does not come from people, it comes from the Dharma; when I meet hindrances, I remember that 「般若波羅蜜是真智慧，其力甚大；魔事虛誑」 tr. "prajñāpāramitā is true wisdom, and its power is very great; the deeds of Māra are false and deceptive"—the great can break the small, and there is no need to stand locked with the difficulty; when I am slow in cultivation and easy on myself, I remember that 「人身無常，有為法不可信」 tr. "the human body is impermanent; conditioned dharmas cannot be relied on," and 「若能一月書成，當應勤書」 tr. "if one can finish writing it in a month, one should write diligently"—quickness is not hurrying; it is knowing that what arises dependently is impermanent and not daring to rely on oneself; when my learning has something to be attained, I remember the last sentence of the whole chapter: 「若悋惜法，則常生邊地無佛法處」 tr. "If one begrudges the Dharma, one is ever born in a border land where there is no Buddha-dharma"—the end of practising in faith lies not in settling one's own affair, but in lighting the lamp one from another. Answer these few questions well in every round of practice, and the three characters 「歎信行」 tr. "Praise of Practising in Faith" are not praise received by someone else, but one's own road: having heard, able to have faith; having had faith, able to practise; having practised, able to pass it on—only so does one not fail that stretch of past-life affinity by which the sūtra came to reach one's ears.

The Deeds of Māra: Why, the Merits Having Been Praised, Hindrances Are Spoken of Again; Why the Eloquence of Delighting in Speech Not Arising and Arising Suddenly Are Alike Deeds of Māra; Why the Four Māras, Being in Reality One, Are Spoken of as Four; Why the Ten Challenges All Conclude in Not Clever; Why, Prajñā Being Unwritable, Grasping the Non-existent Dharma and Grasping the Absence of Letters Are Also Deeds of Māra; Why Ten Kinds of Stray Thoughts All Become Hindrances; Why the Evil Māra Instead Holds Out Deep Sūtras to People; and Why the Simile of Poison Mixed with Ghee Shows That Seeking the Path within Prajñā Is Easy and within Other Sūtras Hard

What Is Being Asked

Through the preceding chapters the Buddha has all along been praising the merits of the bodhisattva who practises prajñā—the buddhas watch over him in their thought, the gods guard him, benefits of every kind in this life and in later lives. In this chapter the wind turns sharply: the venerable Subhūti rises and asks: good men and good women have given rise to the mind of anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi, they practise the six perfections, bring beings to maturity, and purify buddha-worlds, and the Buddha has already praised their merits; then why do those who seek the path of the Buddha give rise to hindrances of every kind? The Buddha’s answer is a long list that runs against all expectation: when one expounds the Dharma and eloquence will not arise, that is a deed of Māra; when eloquence arises too fast and too fiercely, that is also a deed of Māra; when one writes out the sūtra-scroll haughtily...; to read, find it without savour, and go away, is a deed of Māra; to rise from the assembly and leave because the sūtra contains no prediction of oneself, no name of one’s own, no hometown of one’s own, is a deed of Māra; to abandon the deep prajñā and climb to the śrāvaka sūtras is a deed of Māra; and so on up to attaching to 「無法是深般若波羅蜜」 tr. "the non-existent dharma is the deep prajñāpāramitā," attaching to the absence of letters—this is still a deed of Māra.

What is this chapter asking? It is asking about the enemy’s disposition against the one who practises the path. The treatise-author states it plainly at the outset: every conditioned dharma has its dominant; the dominants oppose one another, and to oppose is to be an enemy and a thief—the path is not practised in a vacuum; whatever can spoil and ruin the mind set on the unsurpassed path, whether beings or non-beings, whether outer objects or one’s own mind, the Buddha names altogether as Māra. And so the treatise-author sets up the overall division into the four Māras: the Māra of the afflictions, the Māra of the five aggregates, the Māra of death, and the Māra who is a son of the gods; and further raises question and answer himself: the four Māras are in reality one Māra—why speak of them separately as four? Why does Māra insist on troubling and disturbing those who practise the path? In the latter half of the sūtra text the Buddha, with ten challenges, presses the inversion of ‘abandoning the deep prajñā and taking up the śrāvaka sūtras’ until there is no place left to hide—one sees the elephant and turns round to examine its footprints, one wishes to view the great sea and turns round to seek the water in an ox’s hoofprint: is such a person clever? Ten times Subhūti answers: not clever. And the deepest turn of the whole chapter comes at the end: prajñā is ultimately empty and cannot be written; then, to grasp 「空」 tr. "emptiness," to grasp 「無所有」 tr. "without anything existent"—is that right, then? The Buddha says: that is still a deed of Māra. The list of the deeds of Māra is counted from outer objects all the way down to the subtlest attached mind; this is exactly where the intent of this chapter lies.

Passage by Passage

1. The question of hindrances—the merits praised, but the enemy and thief not yet told. The treatise-author reads out for us the place of Subhūti’s question: 「上已讚歎說菩薩功德，今云何是菩薩魔事起？」 tr. "Above, the bodhisattva’s merits have been praised and told; now, how do the bodhisattva’s deeds of Māra arise?" Praise and hindrance are a pair—one who does not know the merits will not be willing to give rise to the mind, and one who does not know the hindrances will surely fail in practising. Once this question is put, the Buddha turns from chapters of praise to a chapter on the enemy’s disposition.

2. The eloquence of delighting in speech does not arise at once. The very first item on the list runs against expectation: the eloquence of delighting in speech not arising at once is a deed of Māra. Subhūti presses for the reason, and the Buddha answers: when the bodhisattva practises prajñāpāramitā, it is hard to fulfil the six perfections; for this reason eloquence does not arise at once. The treatise-author, following the text, draws out where this item hurts: the bodhisattva, out of pity for beings, mounts the high seat to expound the Dharma, but eloquence does not arise, and seven kinds of suspicion arise in the hearers’ minds—「我等故來，而法師不說」 tr. "We came on purpose, and the Dharma-master does not speak," or they think 「法師怖畏故不能說」 tr. "the Dharma-master is afraid and so cannot speak," or they say 「不知故不說」 tr. "he does not know, and so does not speak," or they suppose that he is reflecting on the depth of his own faults, or that he has not received offerings, or that he looks down on the hearers, or that he is used to his ease and comfort and so does not speak—for such various causes and conditions the hearers’ minds are spoiled, and therefore not delighting in speech is called a deed of Māra. He further cites a matter that can be verified before one’s eyes: Māra entered Ānanda’s mind; the Buddha asked him three times and three times he did not answer, and only after a long while could he speak—eloquence not arising is no small matter; it is Māra finding his opening. The treatise-author further explains its distant cause: because of the causes and conditions of a former life, this person is of dull faculties and indolent; Māra finds his opening, he cannot practise the six perfections single-mindedly, and so the eloquence of delighting in speech does not arise at once.

3. The eloquence of delighting in speech arises suddenly. The item immediately following is exactly the reverse of the one before: eloquence suddenly surging up is also a deed of Māra. The treatise-author raises question and answer himself: not arising can be said to be a deed of Māra; why is arising suddenly also a deed of Māra? Answer: this Dharma-master loves the Dharma, is attached to the Dharma, and seeks fame, and so indulges in delight in speech with no meaning or principle, like a runaway horse hard to rein in; again like a great water in sudden spate, muddied with every kind of filth. Therefore the Buddha himself says: 「菩薩行六波羅蜜，著樂說法，是為魔事。」 tr. "The bodhisattva practises the six perfections and is attached to delighting in speaking the Dharma: this is a deed of Māra." Viewing the two items together, the criterion for a deed of Māra stands out at once: it lies not in whether eloquence is slow or quick, but in whether the mind is attached or not—not arising is being bound, arising suddenly is losing control; both alike are the one mind not being free.

4. Five kinds of hindrance when copying the sūtra. The Buddha goes on to count the marks that appear when copying the prajñā sūtra: sprawling and haughty, jesting and laughing with a distracted mind, sneering without respect, the mind disordered and unsettled, each at odds with the others. The treatise-author’s explanation of 「偃𠐻傲慢」 tr. "sprawling and haughty" is the most pointed: prajñāpāramitā came forth in the first place to break arrogance, yet the one copying the sūtra instead gives rise to a mind of self, a mind of arrogance; because of arrogance even his body is held high—the Dharma is meant to cure the sickness, yet the person grows sicker at the very moment of holding the Dharma; this is why it is a deed of Māra. He further explains scattering and not being in harmony: prajñā, even with a single mind and a gathered mind, is still hard to obtain—how much less when one writes it out with a scattered mind; when copying, one receives from someone’s mouth, or writes out a sūtra-scroll; with single mind and in harmony one obtains it; if the one who transmits does not give it, the various causes and conditions are just what not being in harmony is.

5. Finding no savour, one abandons it. Good men and good women form this thought: I do not find the savour in this sūtra—and so abandon it and go away. On this item the Buddha and Subhūti go back and forth the most. Subhūti presses specifically on this item, and the treatise-author too raises question and answer himself: among all the matters above, why ask only about 「不得經中滋味」 tr. "not finding the savour in the sūtra" and not about the rest? Answer: in prajñāpāramitā, what the noble ones speak is different from what ordinary people speak, and therefore ordinary people do not find its savour; the rest are easy to understand, and so are not asked about. Subhūti’s meaning is that prajñā is the heap of pure precious treasure, able to benefit beings, without fault or evil—how can this person not find its savour? The Buddha answers with the root of the illness: in former lives this person did not long practise the six perfections, and the five faculties beginning with faith are thin; because they are thin he cannot have faith in the dharmas of emptiness, the signless, non-action, and non-dependence; a troubled and disturbed mind arises, and he complains, 「佛一切智，何以不與我受記」 tr. "The Buddha is omniscient; why does he not give me a prediction?"—and so abandons it and goes away. The treatise-author adds a further explanation: when one looks into the prajñā sūtra, chapter after chapter is all empty, with nothing in it to delight in, and so one says one does not find the savour—not knowing that prajñā is precisely the root of all delights; not finding its savour is itself a deed of Māra.

6. Five kinds of hindrance when receiving, upholding, reading, and reciting, and despising one another. Besides copying, when receiving and upholding, reading, reciting, expounding, and rightly recollecting, there are likewise five marks: sprawling and haughty, mocking one another, despising one another, a scattered mind, minds not in harmony. The treatise-author distinguishes in particular between 「共相輕蔑」 tr. "despising one another" and the marks that appear in copying: when one receives, upholds, reads, recites, and rightly recollects from someone, teacher and disciple look down on one another—this is called despising one another; when copying the sūtra there is only abandoning and going away, with no looking down on one another—receiving the Dharma must have a line from teacher to disciple, and the mutual contempt between teacher and disciple is a mark of ruin peculiar to the stage of receiving and upholding.

7. No prediction and no name. Why, finding no savour, does one rise from one’s seat and leave? Because one reckons in one’s mind: in prajñāpāramitā there is no prediction for me, there is no name of mine in it, there is in the sūtra no name of my birthplace, village, town, or city. Subhūti asks on their behalf: the Buddha is of great compassion—why does he not confer the prediction and guard their minds? The Buddha answers: to a person who has not entered the position of dharmas, the buddhas do not confer the prediction. The treatise-author explains the reason: although the buddhas fully know the matters of beings from long ago, the seers with the five supernormal powers and the gods see that this person has as yet no causes and conditions of wholesome conduct and karma for which a prediction could be conferred; if a prediction were conferred on him, they would look down on the Buddha and not have faith: 「無有因緣，云何與授記？」 tr. "There are no causes and conditions; how can he confer a prediction?" Therefore it is to those who have entered the position of dharmas that the prediction is conferred; that the name and the village are not told follows the same principle. A prediction is not a consolation but a confirmation; a confirmation without ground would instead damage faith.

8. Rising from the assembly and leaving—thought by thought one is set back a kalpa. The retribution for this group of hindrances is extremely heavy: when this person rises from his seat and leaves, according to how many thoughts of rising there are, thought by thought he is set back a kalpa each; when the penalty is paid, he again obtains a human body, and only then must he practise again for that many kalpas. Rising from the assembly looks like a small matter, and the treatise-author transmits the sūtra’s meaning as it is: to turn one’s back on the deep Dharma and leave with a contemptuous mind—every thought is a walking backward.

9. The simile of the enemy and thief—dominants opposing one another. Opening up the whole chapter, the treatise-author first sets up an overall simile: every conditioned dharma has its dominant; the dominants oppose one another, and to oppose is to be an enemy and a thief—as water, obtaining dominant power, quenches fire, and fire, obtaining dominant power, dries up water, and so on up to grass and trees each injuring one another—how much more beings. The bodhisattva has a mind of great compassion; though he does not make himself an enemy of beings, beings make themselves enemies of the bodhisattva; the bodhisattva’s body is a conditioned dharma, and so the enemy and thief can make hindrances for him. That the deeds of Māra are possible at all has its root in the word 「有為」 tr. "conditioned": so long as one practises the path within conditioned dharmas, one is within the field of force of dominants opposing one another.

10. Why the Buddha speaks at length of the hindrances. Earlier the Buddha spoke of the merits and did not yet speak of the marks of the enemy and thief; out of pity he first spoke of them briefly; now, at Subhūti’s request, the Buddha speaks of them at length. The treatise-author points out two measures of tact: the Buddha’s mind is equal toward all beings and all dharmas, yet because bodhisattvas can greatly benefit the world, he speaks of the fair and the foul, benefit and harm, what is the path and what is not the path, the matters of hindrance; further, the Buddha does not have the practitioner injure and harm what hinders him, but only has him be aware of it and not follow along with it. This sentence is the general principle of practice for the whole chapter—speaking of the deeds of Māra is not teaching people to do battle with Māra; it is teaching them to recognise and not follow.

11. The division of enemies and thieves, and the name Māra given to them all. What are the enemies and thieves? The treatise-author divides them: whatever can spoil and ruin the bodhisattva’s mind set on the unsurpassed path, whether the dharmas of beings or the dharmas of non-beings. The non-beings are sickness, hunger and thirst, cold and heat, being struck or crushed, falling, and the like. The beings are Māra and Māra’s people, evil ghosts, those of wrong doubt and without faith, those who have cut off their roots of goodness, those fixed on something to be attained, those who discriminate dharmas as really fixed, those deeply attached to worldly delights, enemies and thieves, official affairs, and so on up to lions, tigers, wolves, evil beasts, and poisonous creatures. The thieves that are beings are further divided into inner and outer: the inner arise from one’s own mind—grieving at not finding the savour of the Dharma, giving rise to wrong views, doubt and regret, lack of faith, and the like; the outer are as said above. The list is mixed, yet it is gathered up in a single sentence: all such things of difficulty the Buddha names together as Māra. Māra is not one class of uncanny beings; it is the collective name for every force that obstructs the path.

12. The four Māras set out in general, and the Māra of the afflictions. Māra is of four kinds: the Māra of the afflictions, the Māra of the five aggregates, the Māra of death, and the Māra who is a son of the gods. The Māra of the afflictions is the hundred and eight afflictions and the like, distinguished into eighty-four thousand afflictions—the Māra closest to the body is the afflictions of one’s own mind themselves.

13. The Māra of the five aggregates. The Māra of the five aggregates: from the causes and conditions of the coming together of afflictions and karma one obtains this body: the four great elements and the form made from the four great elements, the eye-faculty and so on, are called the aggregate of form; the coming together of the various feelings, the hundred and eight afflictions and the like, is called the aggregate of feeling; the coming together of the discriminations of perceptions small, great, immeasurable, and without anything existent is called the aggregate of perception; the dharmas associated and not associated with the mind, which, set going by the fair and the foul, can give rise to minds of greed, hatred, and the like, are called the aggregate of constructions; the six faculties and the six sense-objects come together and give rise to the six consciousnesses, and the six consciousnesses discriminate, and the coming together of immeasurable and boundless minds is called the aggregate of consciousness. This passage counts the five aggregates one by one—this body and mind of form, feeling, perception, constructions, and consciousness itself is Māra; there is no need to wait for an outer enemy—to receive a body is already to be within Māra.

14. The Māra of death and the Māra who is a son of the gods. The Māra of death: through the causes and conditions of impermanence it breaks the life of the five aggregates that continue in succession, which is exhausted and parts from the three dharmas of consciousness, severance, and life; it is called the Māra of death. The Māra who is a son of the gods is the lord of the desire realm, deeply attached to worldly delights; because he makes use of something to be attained he gives rise to wrong views, and hates and envies the Dharma of the path to nirvāṇa of all the worthies and noble ones. Of the four Māras, only this one is a Māra that is an outer sentient being, yet the sūtra text states the root of its illness plainly—「深著世間樂」 tr. "deeply attached to worldly delights" and 「有所得」 tr. "something to be attained," the very same names as the illness of the practitioner’s own mind.

15. Māra glossed as one who can seize life. The treatise-author gives the gloss: Māra, in the language of Qin, is 「能奪命者」 tr. "one who can seize life." Although what actually seizes life is only the Māra of death, the other three can also serve as causes and conditions of seizing life, and moreover can seize the life of wisdom; therefore it is called the killer. Life is twofold: the life of the body and the life of wisdom; Māra as killer weighs most on the latter.

16. Why one Māra is spoken of as four. The treatise-author asks himself: the one kind, the Māra of the five aggregates, already includes the other three Māras—why speak of four separately? Answer: in reality it is one Māra; because its meaning is distinguished, there are four. The Māra of the afflictions: people die because of greed and hatred; it is a near cause and condition of seizing life, and so is spoken of separately; the Māra who is a son of the gods, because of the causes and conditions of mixed merit and karma, has great power and force, and by the power of wrong views can seize the life of wisdom, and can also serve as a cause and condition of death, and so is spoken of separately; the power of death through impermanence is the greatest, none can escape it, it is utterly to be feared and wearied of, and so is spoken of separately. The four Māras are four facets of one Māra, each named according to what in it is to be feared.

17. Why Māra troubles the practitioner; the three Māras never apart. He asks again: why does Māra trouble and disturb those who practise the path? Answer: this has already been told at length before; in this chapter the meaning of the four kinds of Māra is present throughout, only spoken of as each place calls for. He further brings out the principle of the three Māras depending on one another: if there are the five aggregates there are afflictions; if there are afflictions the Māra of the heavens finds his opening; because the five aggregates and the afflictions come together there is the Māra of the heavens. These three sentences are the map for guarding against Māra: the Māra who is a son of the gods looks like an outer enemy, yet his way in is one’s own five aggregates and afflictions—only when within one is not in harmony does the outer Māra find his opening.

18. Abandoning the root to climb the branches, set out in general, and the list of the śrāvaka sūtras. Sūtra ② turns to the weightiest group of deeds of Māra in the whole chapter: the bodhisattva who studies other sūtras and abandons prajñāpāramitā can never reach sarvajñā—it is abandoning the root to climb the branches and leaves. Subhūti asks which are the other sūtras, and the Buddha answers: the sūtras that śrāvakas should practise, namely the four foundations of mindfulness, the four right efforts, the four bases of supernormal power, the five faculties, the five powers, the seven limbs of awakening, the eight limbs of the noble path, and the gates of liberation of emptiness, the signless, and non-action; abiding in these one obtains the fruit of srota-āpanna, the fruit of sakṛdāgāmin, the fruit of anāgāmin, the fruit of arhat—these are called the sūtras that śrāvakas practise, which cannot reach sarvajñā. But from prajñāpāramitā the bodhisattva-mahāsattvas are born, and worldly and world-transcending dharmas are accomplished; when one studies prajñā, one also studies worldly and world-transcending dharmas. In this passage one must see clearly that what is being set aside is the direction of the 「經」 tr. "sūtras," not the items of the Dharma themselves—the names of the thirty-seven limbs of the path are shared by both sides, while the fruits they head toward differ (see in detail the passage below on the same dharma and a different mind).

19. The ten challenges—dog, elephant, great sea, victorious palace, wheel-turning sage king, food of a hundred flavours, maṇi jewel. The Buddha sets up similes one after another in ten challenges, each closing its question with 「於汝意云何？是人為黠不」 tr. "What do you think? Is this person clever?"—and all ten of Subhūti’s answers say: not clever. It opens with the simile of the dog: like a dog that does not seek food from the great household but instead begs it from the servant. Next the simile of the elephant: wishing to see an elephant, and having seen it, turning round to examine its footprints. Next the simile of the great sea: wishing to see the great sea, and having seen it, turning round to seek the water in an ox’s hoofprint, and still thinking, 「大海水能與此等不」 tr. "Can the water of the great sea equal this?" Next the simile of the victorious palace: a craftsman wishes to model the victorious palace of Śakra Devānām Indra, and takes his measure from the palaces of the sun and moon—this simile carries two challenges in a row. Next the simile of the wheel-turning sage king: wishing to see a wheel-turning sage king, seeing him yet not recognising him, then afterwards seeing petty kings and taking up their appearance, saying, 「轉輪聖王與此何異」 tr. "How does the wheel-turning sage king differ from this?"—this too carries two in a row. Next the simile of food of a hundred flavours: a hungry man obtains food of a hundred flavours, abandons it and goes off to eat sixty-day grain instead. Last the simile of the maṇi jewel: a man obtains a priceless maṇi jewel and instead sets it beside a crystal bead—again two in a row. Across the ten challenges the Buddha time and again points out what is meant: good men and good women who seek the path of the Buddha in the ages to come, having obtained the deep prajñāpāramitā, abandon it and go away, take up the sūtras that śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas should practise, and hold to them to seek sarvajñā—know that this is a deed of Māra for the bodhisattva; in several of the challenges he specially marks the words 「薄福德」 tr. "thin in merit." The ten similes share one pattern: what is sought is the whole, what is taken is the trace, the tributary, the imitation, the smaller specimen, the coarse grain, the false jewel—it is not that the śrāvaka sūtras are without value, but that to take them to seek sarvajñā is like seeking the elephant in its footprints, seeking the sea in the water of an ox’s hoofprint: the direction itself is wrong.

20. Delighting in speech not in accord with the Dharma, and the seven marks of prajñā. When copying the deep prajñā, matters of delighting in speech not in accord with the Dharma prevent the copying of prajñāpāramitā from being accomplished—namely, delighting in speaking of form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and dharmas; delighting in speaking of keeping the precepts, meditation, and the formless absorptions; delighting in speaking of dānapāramitā and so on up to prajñāpāramitā; delighting in speaking of the four foundations of mindfulness and so on up to anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi. Why is even delighting in speaking of wholesome dharmas not permitted? Because in prajñāpāramitā there is no mark of delighting in speech. Here the sūtra text directly sets out the seven marks of prajñā: the mark of the inconceivable, the mark of neither arising nor ceasing, the mark of neither stained nor pure, the mark of neither disordered nor scattered, the mark of no speech, the mark of no words and no meaning, the mark of nothing to be attained—in prajñā there are none of these marks to be grasped; if, when copying the sūtra, one scatters and disorders one’s mind with these dharmas, this too is a deed of Māra.

21. Prajñā cannot be written—because its self-nature is non-existent; grasping the non-existent dharma is also Māra. Subhūti asks: can prajñāpāramitā be written? The Buddha says: it cannot be written. Why? Because the self-nature of prajñā is non-existent; because the self-nature of dhyāna, vīrya, kṣānti, śīla, and dānapāramitā, and so on up to omniscience of all kinds, is non-existent; if the self-nature is non-existent, it is not called a nature, and a non-existent dharma cannot write a non-existent dharma. Immediately follows the sharpest turn of the whole chapter: if someone on this account forms the thought, 「無法是深般若波羅蜜」 tr. "the non-existent dharma is the deep prajñāpāramitā," know that this is a deed of Māra for the bodhisattva. To say it cannot be written is to block attachment to existence; the moment one grasps 「無法」 tr. "the non-existent dharma," one falls again into attachment to non-existence—the teaching of prajñā blocks both extremes together; to hold 「空」 tr. "emptiness" in the hand as a thing is, like holding 「有」 tr. "existence" in the hand, alike an attached mind.

22. Attachment to letters and attachment to the absence of letters. Subhūti continues, saying to the Buddha: to write prajñā with letters and think to oneself, 「我書是般若波羅蜜」 tr. "I am writing this prajñāpāramitā," attaching to prajñā through the letters, is also a deed of Māra—because prajñā is without letters, the five perfections are without letters, form, feeling, perception, constructions, and consciousness, and so on up to omniscience of all kinds, are without letters. And the next sentence at once supplies the other side: if one attaches to a prajñāpāramitā that is 「無文字」 tr. "without letters," and so on up to attaching to an omniscience of all kinds without letters, know that this too is a deed of Māra for the bodhisattva; reading, reciting, expounding, rightly recollecting, and practising as taught are likewise. Attachment to letters is a deed of Māra, and attachment to the absence of letters is still a deed of Māra—only when the two sentences are read side by side does one see that the sūtra’s intent lies not in whether there are letters or not, but in attachment or non-attachment.

23. Ten kinds of stray thoughts as hindrances. When copying prajñā, stray thoughts swarm up: thoughts of lands arise, thoughts of villages arise, thoughts of towns and cities arise, thoughts of regions arise, on hearing one’s teacher slandered thoughts arise, thoughts of father and mother, of brothers and sisters and other kin, thoughts of thieves, thoughts of caṇḍālas, thoughts of women, thoughts of harlots—all such various other stray thoughts make hindrances; and the evil Māra further increases these thoughts, ruins the copying, ruins reading, reciting, expounding, rightly recollecting, and practising as taught. Among the ten kinds there are the mountains and rivers of one’s homeland, the gratitude and duty owed to one’s teacher’s gate, the affection of flesh and blood, fear, and the taint of desire—the sūtra text does not hide a single item, and lists as they are even the thoughts of women and of harlots: whatever can draw the mind away from the sūtra, whether it looks good, evil, or simply natural feeling, is alike a hindrance at the time of copying the sūtra; and the evil Māra’s method is not to fabricate another thought but to 「復益其念」 tr. "further increase these thoughts"—to add weight along the thoughts already present in a person’s mind.

24. Greedy attachment to gain and offerings. One who seeks the path of the Buddha obtains fame, reverence, gifts, and offerings—robes, food and drink, bedding, medicine for sickness, requisites of every kind for comfort—and if, when copying the sūtra, receiving, reading, reciting, and so on up to rightly recollecting, he loves and attaches to these things, the copying of prajñāpāramitā is not accomplished; know that this too is a deed of Māra. The earlier hindrances rob a person through suffering; this item robs a person through delight: offerings are not in themselves a fault; it is loving and attaching to offerings so that the work on the sūtra is not accomplished that is a deed of Māra.

25. The evil Māra holds out other deep sūtras. The last item is the most insidious: the evil Māra, as a device, holds out other deep sūtras to this bodhisattva. One who has skilful means should not be greedily attached—why? Because these sūtras cannot bring a person to sarvajñā; a bodhisattva without skilful means, hearing these other deep sūtras, abandons the deep prajñāpāramitā. Here the Buddha solemnly declares of himself: in this prajñāpāramitā I have widely taught the path of skilful means of the bodhisattva-mahāsattvas, and bodhisattvas ought to seek it within this; to abandon the deep prajñā and seek the path of skilful means in the deep sūtras of the śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas given by Māra—know that this too is a deed of Māra for the bodhisattva. At the last Māra does not use evil deeds to lure people; he uses 「深經」 tr. "deep sūtras" to lure them—whether a sūtra is deep or not is not the criterion; whether it can reach sarvajñā is the criterion.

26. The four kinds of people who study other sūtras, and the words that spoil and ruin. The treatise-author, explaining 「學餘經，捨般若」 tr. "studying other sūtras, abandoning prajñā," lists several kinds of people for whom it actually happens: some receive the precepts and study the Dharma within the śrāvaka Dharma and at first do not hear prajñā; or later hear it elsewhere, but, deeply attached to the Dharma they studied first, abandon prajñā and seek sarvajñā in the Dharma they studied first. There are śrāvaka disciples who first obtain prajñā but do not know its meaning and purport and do not find its savour, and practise the bodhisattva path with the śrāvaka sūtras. And there are śrāvaka disciples who obtain the prajñā sūtra and wish to have faith in it and receive it, but other śrāvakas spoil and ruin their minds, speaking a whole set of arguments: 「是經初後不相應，無有定相，汝宜捨之！」 tr. "This sūtra does not agree from beginning to end, it has no fixed mark; you had better abandon it!" What is there that is not in the śrāvaka Dharma—the six-part abhidharma and its discussions distinguishing the marks of dharmas are prajñāpāramitā; the eighty sections of the Vinaya is śīla pāramitā; the distinguishing in the Abhidharma of the meditations, the liberations, the samādhis, and so on is dhyāna pāramitā; the praise of liberation, giving, patience, and vigour in the jātakas of the three baskets is the three pāramitās. What is frightening in this set of arguments is that every sentence of it seems to raise prajñā up: prajñā is ‘reduced back’ to something the śrāvaka Dharma already has, so that abandoning prajñā appears to be no loss at all. The treatise-author closes it with a simile: as a person who wants good solid timber abandons the root and trunk and takes the branches and leaves—though they bear the name of wood, they are of no use.

27. Two explanations of root, trunk, branches, and leaves. The treatise-author then gives two correct explanations of ‘abandoning the root to climb the branches’. The first: prajñāpāramitā is the root of the three baskets; having obtained prajñā, one speaks of other matters in order to deliver beings, and these are called branches and leaves—branches and leaves are not counterfeits, but skilful means grown out of the root. The second: although the śrāvaka sūtras speak of the real mark of all dharmas, they do not make it fully clear, while in the prajñā sūtras it is clearly manifest, easy to see and easy to obtain; as a person who climbs by the branches and leaves falls, while one who grips the trunk is firm—holding to the śrāvaka sūtras one falls into the Small Vehicle, holding to prajñā one easily attains the unsurpassed path; therefore it is said 「捨根莖，取枝葉」 tr. "abandoning the root and trunk, taking the branches and leaves." Viewing the two explanations together: branches and leaves have their own use; the error lies only in abandoning the root to climb the branches.

28. The same dharma, a different mind. The treatise-author raises himself the most important question of this chapter: the thirty-seven limbs of the path and the three gates of liberation are also in the prajñā sūtras—why now are they called only śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha sūtras? Answer: in the Mahāyāna, though these dharmas are present, they are joined with ultimate emptiness, the mind is attached to nothing, and, not abandoning sarvajñā and the mind of great compassion, they are spoken for the sake of all beings; the śrāvaka sūtras are not so, being for the sake of the realisation of the Small Vehicle. The items of the Dharma are wholly the same; what differs lies in the mind: joined with ultimate emptiness, not abandoning great compassion, for the sake of all beings—the very same four foundations of mindfulness are the bodhisattva path; for the sake of the realisation of the Small Vehicle, the very same four foundations of mindfulness are a śrāvaka sūtra. The judgement of great and small lies not in the dharma but in the mind that uses the dharma.

29. The simile of the dog gathers up all the similes. The treatise-author turns back and draws the similes together: because the bodhisattva practises prajñā he can accomplish worldly and world-transcending dharmas; therefore one who seeks the Buddha ought to study prajñā. It is like a dog that keeps guard for its master and ought to beg food from the master, yet instead seeks food from the slaves and guests; the dog is the practitioner, prajñāpāramitā is the master—in prajñā there are benefits of every kind, yet one abandons it to seek other sūtras. The Buddha, wishing to make it clear and easy to see, speaks in similes; the elephant, the great sea, Śakra’s palace, the wheel-turning sage king, the priceless treasure, are likewise. The similes of the ten challenges are gathered up in one sentence: seek in the place where it is to be given.

30. The gloss on not in accord with the Dharma. He asks further: that the five desires give rise to the five hindrances and the five hindrances cover wisdom, so that one should not delight in speaking of them, can be understood; why is delighting in speaking of the other six perfections and so on up to the unsurpassed path called not in accord with the Dharma? Answer: 「不如法」 tr. "not in accord with the Dharma" means not in accord with the real mark of prajñāpāramitā. In the real mark there are no dharmas of fixed mark—how could one delight in speaking of it? If there were a fixed mark, the mind would attach to delighting in speech. The buddhas and bodhisattvas expound the Dharma for beings with a mind of great compassion, not attached to words; with the dharma of nothing to be attained they show beings the prajñā of the mark of ultimate emptiness. This person, copying, reading, reciting, and so on, grasps with a tainted and attached mind the marks of the six sense-objects and so on up to the mark of the unsurpassed path; therefore it is said to be not in accord with the Dharma. The three Chinese characters rendered here as ‘not in accord with the Dharma’ are defined by this: it is not that the content of what is spoken is against the Dharma, but that the mind that speaks is not in accord with the real mark—grasping marks with a tainted and attached mind, even speaking of the unsurpassed path is not in accord with the Dharma.

31. Why there are deeds of Māra in ultimate emptiness—attachment to emptiness is also Māra. The treatise-author raises himself the question of deepest meaning in the whole chapter: if prajñā is ultimately empty, a dharma without anything existent, which cannot be written, read, recited, and so on, then in that case there should be no deeds of Māra? Answer: ultimate emptiness and without anything existent are likewise not the mark of prajñāpāramitā; why is this a deed of Māra? Here it is said: if this person knows 「無所有是般若波羅蜜相」 tr. "without anything existent is the mark of prajñāpāramitā," that is a deed of Māra; if one writes prajñā with letters and knows oneself, 「我書般若波羅蜜」 tr. "I am writing prajñāpāramitā," having this attached mind is a deed of Māra. If a person knows the mark of prajñāpāramitā and does not copy, read, recite, and so on with an attached mind—then if anyone comes forward to ruin this, that is what breaking prajñāpāramitā truly is. The answer blocks both sides: to set up ultimate emptiness as the mark of prajñā—emptiness has already become a mark, and attaching to a mark is Māra; the line of the deeds of Māra is always drawn at the attached mind, never at writing or not writing, empty or not empty.

32. The inner and outer Māras explaining the arising of thoughts, and the ten thoughts explained in turn. The treatise-author gathers up the passage on stray thoughts with the framework of the four Māras: within there is the Māra of the afflictions, without there is the Māra who is a son of the gods; through the causes and conditions of these two, prajñāpāramitā is ruined in copying prajñā and so on up to practising. 「念起」 tr. "Thoughts arise" means thinking that this land is not peaceful and secure and that land is prosperous and happy; villages, towns and cities, and regions are likewise. Then he explains the ten thoughts item by item: some hear their teacher slandered, and abandon prajñā wishing to help the teacher do away with the bad name; some hear of father and mother being sick, or of official affairs; some think of thieves in fear and want to set out for elsewhere, and caṇḍālas likewise; dwelling together with thieves or caṇḍālas, hatred arises; dwelling together with women and harlots, a mind of lust arises. Protecting one’s teacher is duty, thinking of one’s kin is filial piety, avoiding thieves is ordinary feeling—the treatise-author does not deny the feeling, he only points out its result: through such various causes and conditions prajñāpāramitā is ruined. And the medicine is a single sentence: the bodhisattva, being aware of it, should not think of it and should not speak of it.

33. The dull-faculty person greedy for gain and offerings, the sharp-faculty person turned aside. The treatise-author assigns the last two deeds of Māra to two kinds of faculty. The one of dull faculties: when copying prajñā, amid much reverence and many offerings he loves and attaches, thinking to himself, 「我能書、能隨行故有是」 tr. "It is because I can copy and can practise accordingly that I have this," and attaches to this gain and offering—this is a deed of Māra; he credits the merit that belongs to the Dharma to the self, and so the offerings become bait. The one of sharp faculties: Māra reckons to himself that this bodhisattva is not attached to worldly delights and receives prajñā single-mindedly, and cannot be spoiled and ruined: 「我今當以聲聞深經轉其心，使成阿羅漢」 tr. "I shall now turn his mind with the deep sūtras of the śrāvakas, and make him become an arhat." Here Māra’s two sets of methods are laid out side by side: toward the dull-faculty he uses worldly delights, toward the sharp-faculty he uses the Dharma of the path—even 「使成阿羅漢」 tr. "make him become an arhat" can be Māra’s aim, because it is just what cuts off the path of the Buddha.

34. The simile of the ball of gold heated red-hot. The Buddha says: 「聲聞經雖深，不應貪著。」 tr. "Though the śrāvaka sūtras are deep, one should not be greedily attached to them." The treatise-author gives a simile: it is like a ball of gold heated red-hot: though its colour is fine and beautiful, it cannot be grasped. If a bodhisattva is without skilful means and not of greatly sharp faculties, and, obtaining these sūtras, rejoices—this is emptiness, the signless, non-action, which can exhaust the root of suffering: what could surpass this!—and so abandons prajñāpāramitā, this too is a deed of Māra. The ball of gold is real gold, and the śrāvaka sūtras are really deep; the edge of the simile lies in the word 「燒熱」 tr. "heated red-hot": for one who seeks sarvajñā, to grasp it at this moment is surely to be burned—the danger of greedy attachment does not lessen because what is craved is a true dharma.

35. The simile of poison mixed with ghee—the close of the whole chapter. Why? Here the Buddha himself tells the cause and condition: 「於般若波羅蜜中廣說諸菩薩摩訶薩方便道，所謂觀聲聞、辟支佛道而不證，以大悲心行三解脫門故。」 tr. "Within prajñāpāramitā the path of skilful means of the bodhisattva-mahāsattvas is widely taught, namely contemplating the path of the śrāvaka and the pratyekabuddha and not realising it, because one practises the three gates of liberation with the mind of great compassion." The treatise-author closes the whole chapter with a simile: it is like a person who mixes poison with ghee: the force of the poison then subsides and cannot harm anyone. Prajñā is likewise: within prajñā the bodhisattva seeks the unsurpassed path and easily attains it, whereas in other sūtras it is hard, like taking poison alone. The three gates of liberation lead through to nirvāṇa of themselves; practised alone they realise the small fruit, and this is the poison; joined with the ghee of prajñā and the mind of great compassion, contemplating and not realising, the force of the poison subsides of itself, and it becomes instead the bodhisattva’s path of skilful means. Therefore one should not seek the bodhisattva path in the śrāvaka sūtras—with this sentence the whole chapter ends.

Do Not Misread

Do not read the deeds of Māra as a narrative of uncanny beings coming from outside. The treatise-author’s division into the four Māras says it plainly: the Māra of the afflictions is the hundred and eight afflictions of one’s own mind, the Māra of the five aggregates is this body and mind of form, feeling, perception, constructions, and consciousness itself, the Māra of death is impermanence; of the four, only the Māra who is a son of the gods is an outer sentient being—and the three Māras are never apart: if there are the five aggregates there are afflictions; if there are afflictions the Māra of the heavens finds his opening. The deeds of Māra on this chapter’s list are for the most part the practitioner’s own marks of mind: arrogance, jesting and laughing, greed for gain and offerings, reckoning over predictions and names, attachment to letters, attachment to the absence of letters. If one reads this chapter only as guarding against Māra outside, one misses precisely the place where the sūtra text puts its deepest effort.

Do not read ‘abandoning the śrāvaka sūtras’ as disparaging the thirty-seven limbs of the path. The treatise-author’s own question and answer are perfectly clear: the thirty-seven limbs of the path and the three gates of liberation are also in the prajñā sūtras; what is set aside is the direction 「為小乘證故」 tr. "for the sake of the realisation of the Small Vehicle," not the items of the Dharma themselves. In the Mahāyāna these are the same dharmas, and joined with ultimate emptiness, not abandoning great compassion, they are the bodhisattva path. What the ten similes rebuke is taking the branches and leaves for the root, taking the elephant’s footprints for the elephant—the śrāvaka sūtras have their own use; the error lies in seeking sarvajñā in them. To read it as saying that the Great Vehicle need not cultivate the foundations of mindfulness and the right efforts is to read the sūtra text backwards.

Do not read 「不可書」 tr. "cannot be written," 「無法」 tr. "the non-existent dharma," and 「無文字」 tr. "without letters" as abolishing copying and abolishing recitation. The sūtra text says that because the self-nature of prajñā is non-existent it cannot be written, and at once says that to grasp 「無法是深般若波羅蜜」 tr. "the non-existent dharma is the deep prajñāpāramitā" is a deed of Māra; it says that attaching to prajñā through letters is a deed of Māra, and at once says that attaching to the absence of letters is also a deed of Māra. The treatise-author further states clearly: not copying, reading, and reciting with an attached mind is what upholding prajñā truly is; if someone comes to break it, that is breaking prajñāpāramitā. The whole passage blocks both existence and non-existence, and its blade always falls on the words 「著心」 tr. "attached mind," not on the acts of copying and reciting—this chapter is itself a sūtra text urging people to copy, receive and uphold, read, and recite prajñā; how could it abolish itself?

Do not slide lightly past the ten kinds of stray thoughts and items such as women and harlots, or cover them over on the sūtra’s behalf. The sūtra text lists them as they are: the thought of one’s teacher being slandered, thoughts of father and mother, brothers and sisters, thoughts of thieves and caṇḍālas, thoughts of women and harlots—all without exception are hindrances at the time of copying the sūtra; and the treatise-author explains them as they are—helping one’s teacher do away with a bad name is a righteous act, thinking of father and mother being sick is human feeling, yet at the time of copying prajñā, whatever draws the mind away from the sūtra is alike called a hindrance. The sūtra does not avoid saying it, and the exposition should not soften it on the sūtra’s behalf; what is to be looked at is the sentence that closes it: the bodhisattva, being aware of it, should not think of it and should not speak of it—this is being aware and not following, not hating the people who are thought of.

Bearing on Practice

The first benefit this chapter gives the one who applies effort is a list that can be checked against oneself item by item. When expounding the Dharma, eloquence does not arise, eloquence arises suddenly; when copying the sūtra, arrogance, jesting and laughing, contempt, a disordered mind, not being in harmony; when reading and reciting, teacher and disciple looking down on one another; feeling it has no savour and wanting to leave; reckoning whether one has received a prediction, whether one’s name is there; greedy attachment to reverence and offerings; stray thoughts swarming up—these are all marks recognisable in daily use. The way to use this chapter is the one sentence the Buddha spoke: only be aware of it and do not follow along with it. It is not wrestling with each mark, but recognising its name when the mark arises: this is a deed of Māra. Once it is recognised, half its power is broken.

The second benefit lies in self-examination through the item ‘finding no savour, one abandons it’. When one reads a deep sūtra and finds it without savour, one always blames the sūtra; the Buddha’s diagnosis, however, is that the five faculties are thin—in former lives one did not long practise the six perfections, the five faculties beginning with faith are thin, and so one cannot have faith in the dharmas of emptiness, the signless, non-action, and non-dependence. When in daily use no gladness arises toward the Dharma-gate of prajñā, this item can be the place to turn the light back: the lack of savour is not necessarily that the sūtra is bland; it may be the season when one’s own root of faith advances or retreats; to rise and leave at this time is to be set back a kalpa thought by thought, and to sit firm and go on reading is to increase the faculties.

The third benefit is the sense of direction in the ten similes. Seeing the elephant and turning round to examine its footprints, seeking the sea and turning round to take the water in an ox’s hoofprint—what the ten similes teach is a judgement of ‘where to seek’: if what one seeks is sarvajñā, one should seek it in the place that gives birth to sarvajñā. In daily use, when choosing a Dharma-gate or choosing a text to read, the practitioner can often ask the question of the ten similes: what I am drawing near to at this moment—is it root and trunk, or branches and leaves? Can it reach the place I seek?

The fourth benefit is the examination of attachment to emptiness. When the practitioner understands a little of the meaning of emptiness, it is easiest of all to grip 「畢竟空」 tr. "ultimate emptiness" and 「無所有」 tr. "without anything existent" as a new attainment; this chapter says clearly: to know without anything existent as the mark of prajñā is a deed of Māra. In daily use, when contemplating emptiness, one can check back with this item: am I leaving attachment behind, or am I holding 「空」 tr. "emptiness" as a thing? Read it together with the pair, attachment to letters and attachment to the absence of letters: leaving the mark of letters lies not in destroying letters, but in not attaching.

The fifth benefit is the warning for those of sharp faculties. Māra’s way of dealing with people of sharp faculties is to use deep sūtras, to use 「使成阿羅漢」 tr. "make him become an arhat," to turn the mind—the more one’s effort takes hold, the more refined the forks in the road one meets. The simile of the ball of gold heated red-hot should be kept always in mind: though its colour is fine and beautiful, it cannot be grasped; the criterion is not whether it is deep or not, true or not, but whether it reaches sarvajñā or not, whether it abandons great compassion or not. And the simile of poison mixed with ghee gives the positive use: the three gates of liberation are not to be left uncultivated; mixed with prajñā and great compassion, contemplated and not realised, the poison becomes medicine.

Further Resonances

The backbone of this chapter is two passages of sūtra and two passages of treatise explanation. Sūtra ① begins from Subhūti’s question about hindrances, and the Buddha counts through the deeds of Māra: the eloquence of delighting in speech not arising at once and arising suddenly; when copying the sūtra, sprawling and haughty, jesting and laughing with a distracted mind, sneering without respect, the mind disordered and unsettled, each at odds with the others; finding no savour and abandoning it; when receiving, upholding, reading, and reciting, sprawling and haughty, mocking one another, despising one another, a scattered mind, minds not in harmony; having no prediction, no name, no name of one’s birthplace, and rising from the assembly and leaving, set back a kalpa thought by thought. Treatise ① first sets up the simile of the enemy and thief—dominants opposing one another are enemies and thieves—then makes clear why the Buddha speaks of the hindrances at length and the division of enemies and thieves into beings and non-beings, inner and outer, all named together as Māra; it sets up the division into the four Māras: the Māra of the afflictions, the Māra of the five aggregates, the Māra of death, and the Māra who is a son of the gods, gives the gloss 「能奪命者」 tr. "one who can seize life," and answers why one Māra is spoken of as four, why Māra troubles the practitioner, and that the three Māras are never apart; then, following the text, it explains the seven suspicions when eloquence does not arise and the matter of Ānanda, the runaway horse and the sudden spate when eloquence arises suddenly, arrogance, scattering, and not being in harmony, savour and the five faculties, prediction and the position of dharmas, and being set back a kalpa thought by thought. Sūtra ② sets out in general abandoning the root to climb the branches, counts the list of the sūtras that śrāvakas practise, sets up the similes of the dog, the elephant, the great sea, the victorious palace, the wheel-turning sage king, the food of a hundred flavours, and the maṇi jewel, with ten challenges; next it makes clear delighting in speech not in accord with the Dharma and the seven marks of prajñā, that it cannot be written and grasping the non-existent dharma, attachment to letters and attachment to the absence of letters, the ten kinds of stray thoughts, greedy attachment to gain and offerings, and the evil Māra holding out other deep sūtras. Treatise ② explains the four kinds of people who study other sūtras and the words that spoil and ruin, gives the two explanations of root, trunk, branches, and leaves, answers the question of the same dharma and a different mind, gathers up all the similes with the simile of the dog, glosses 「不如法」 tr. "not in accord with the Dharma," answers why there are deeds of Māra in ultimate emptiness and makes clear that attachment to emptiness is also Māra, explains the arising of thoughts with the inner and outer Māras and then the ten thoughts in turn, divides the two capacities of dull and sharp faculties, and at the end closes with the two similes of the ball of gold heated red-hot and of poison mixed with ghee: one should not seek the bodhisattva path in the śrāvaka sūtras.

In the vein of meaning linking this chapter with the chapters before and after it, three lines can be seen. First, Subhūti’s question itself marks what it carries on from: the Buddha has already praised the merits—the chapters before this one praised at length the virtues of practising prajñā, and this chapter supplies the marks of the enemy and thief that had not yet been told; the treatise-author states plainly that, out of the Buddha’s pity, although earlier they were spoken of briefly, now at Subhūti’s request the Buddha speaks at length of the matters of hindrance—praising the virtues and speaking of the difficulties are two sides of one Dharma. Second, this chapter’s axis of ‘abandoning the deep prajñā and taking up the śrāvaka sūtras’ stands as inside and outside with the meaning, set forth again and again in the preceding chapters, that prajñā gathers up all the perfections and gives birth to bodhisattvas: precisely because prajñā is the root, abandoning the root to climb the branches becomes an inversion; and the answer on the same dharma and a different mind gives a turning word on the meaning that the thirty-seven limbs of the path and the three gates of liberation are included within prajñā. Third, this chapter’s account of the deeds of Māra is not finished—at the end of the chapter the Buddha marks out the meaning that within prajñā the path of skilful means is widely taught, contemplating the paths of the two vehicles and not realising them; this meaning, together with the remaining marks of the deeds of Māra, is continued in the chapters that follow; the reader may view the preceding and following chapters together, to see the single continuity of the teaching that speaks of difficulties and the teaching of skilful means (the examination of the chapter’s variant names, of the division of fascicles in the transmitted texts, and of later citations is detailed in the Apparatus).

Overview

"The Two Discords" follows on from the deeds of Māra of the preceding chapter, yet it moves its gaze from within one person's mind to the space between two people. The hindrances spoken of in the preceding chapter mostly arise from the practitioner's own mind—a thought stirring, clinging to gain, craving the delight of speaking; with the very first sentence of this chapter a different structure is put in their place: 「復次，須菩提！聽法人欲書、持般若波羅蜜，讀、誦、問義、正憶念；說法人懈墮，不欲為說。當知是為菩薩摩訶薩魔事。」 tr. "Again, Subhūti! The hearer of the Dharma wishes to write out and uphold prajñāpāramitā, to read, recite, ask the meaning, and rightly recollect it; the speaker of the Dharma is slack and does not wish to speak it for him. Know that this is a deed of Māra for the bodhisattva-mahāsattva." One wishes to learn and one does not wish to teach—look at either end alone and neither need be a bad person; take them together, and prajñā can be neither written out nor upheld. The sūtra text at once turns it round: 「說法之人心不懈墮，欲令書、持般若波羅蜜；聽法者不欲受之。二心不和，當知是為魔事。」 tr. "The speaker of the Dharma is not slack in mind and wishes to have prajñāpāramitā written out and upheld; the hearer of the Dharma does not wish to receive it. The two minds are not in accord; know that this is a deed of Māra." The eye of the chapter's name is set up right here: a deed of Māra need not come from outside; when the speaker and the hearer of the Dharma are such that 「二心不和」 tr. "the two minds are not in accord", that one crack is the gate of Māra. The treatise explanation states the principle in full at the very outset: 「一切有為法，因緣和合故生，眾緣離則無。譬如攢燧求火，有鑽、有母，二事因緣得火」 tr. "Every conditioned dharma arises because causes and conditions come together; when the conditions part, it is not. It is like seeking fire with a fire-drill: there is the drill and there is the base, and by the causes and conditions of the two things the fire is got"—writing out prajñā, and so on up to rightly recollecting it, is also like this: 「所謂師、弟子同心同事故，乃得書成」 tr. "that is to say, only because teacher and disciple are of one mind and one undertaking can the writing out be completed". The whole chapter, three rounds of sūtra and three rounds of treatise spanning the two fascicles sixty-eight and sixty-nine, spreads out from these pair after pair of 「兩不和合」 tr. "the two not in accord": the First Part, one sūtra and one treatise, sets up the form of the pairs and explains the twelve dhūta practices in detail; the Last Part, two sūtras and two treatises, lays out at length the marks of the many discords of teacher and disciple, turns to the four types of the evil Māra's transformed appearances, and closes with the simile of the precious things with many thieves and the protection of the Buddha's power.

The one round of the First Part sets up the form and makes clear the dhūta practices. Sūtra ① lists four pairs: one wishes to write out and uphold while one is slack; one wishes to teach while one wishes to go to another region; one 「貴重布施衣服、飲食、臥具、醫藥、資生之物」 tr. "values highly the giving of clothing, food and drink, bedding, medicine, and the things that support life" while one 「少欲知足，行遠離行，攝念精進，一心智慧」 tr. "has few desires and knows contentment, practises the practice of separation, collects his mindfulness and is vigorous, with one mind and with wisdom"; one takes up the twelve dhūta practices while one does not—each pair is stated once in each direction, the speaker and the hearer exchanging places, and the concluding sentence is always the same: 「兩不和合，不得書般若波羅蜜」 tr. "the two are not in accord, and prajñāpāramitā cannot be written out". Treatise ① first sets up the thesis with the simile of the fire-drill, then explains difficulty by difficulty: why should one whose mind is covered by the five hindrances act as a teacher? 「是人著世間樂，不觀空、無常，雖能心知、口說，不能自行」 tr. "This person clings to worldly pleasure and does not contemplate emptiness and impermanence; though he can know it in his mind and speak it with his mouth, he cannot practise it himself", while the disciple is set on practising and cannot know, so 「更無餘處，必諮此人」 tr. "there is nowhere else to go; he must consult this person"; why is one who does not wish to receive and uphold called a hearer of the Dharma? 「少多聽、受、讀、誦，不能究竟成就故，但名聽法」 tr. "Because he hears, receives, reads, and recites a little, and cannot bring it to final accomplishment, he is merely called a hearer of the Dharma"; it then at once points out the essential of practice for the whole chapter—「若二人善心共同，能得般若波羅蜜；若不同則不能得，是名魔事」 tr. "If the two people's wholesome minds are shared and alike, they can obtain prajñāpāramitā; if they are not alike, they cannot obtain it—this is called a deed of Māra"; the bodhisattva should be aware of this matter and guard against its arising: 「若自失，當具足；若弟子失，當教令得」 tr. "if the fault is his own, he should make it complete; if the fault is the disciple's, he should teach him so that he obtains it". The round of the dhūta practices most needs clear discernment: the two people 「皆有信、有戒」 tr. "both have faith and have precepts"; it is only that one can adorn the precepts with the dhūta practices and one cannot—「十二頭陀不名為戒，能行，則戒莊嚴；不能行，不犯戒」 tr. "The twelve dhūta practices are not called precepts; if one can practise them, the precepts are adorned; if one cannot practise them, one does not break the precepts"; it is like giving: one who can practise it obtains merit, and one who cannot practise it has no offence; precisely because both are without offence, the discord here is purely the loss of prajñā, not a verdict of offence. The treatise-author then explains the twelve members one by one, each with its reason: one takes up the dharma of the araṇya in order 「令身遠離憒閙，住於空閑」 tr. "to let the body be far removed from noise and bustle and dwell in empty quiet", and 「得是身遠離已，亦當令心遠離五欲、五蓋」 tr. "having obtained this separation of the body, one should also let the mind be separated from the five desires and the five hindrances"; one takes up the dharma of always begging for food to be free of the vexations of invited meals and Saṅgha meals—if invited and he gets the meal, he prides himself, 「我是福德好人故得」 tr. "I get this because I am a good man of merit", and if he does not get it, he resents and is vexed; one takes up the dharma of robes of cast-off rags to be free of the troubles of fine clothing—it gives rise to fond clinging and invites the danger of thieves, 「或至奪命」 tr. "sometimes even to the taking of life"; one takes up the dharma of one meal to spare the effort of half a day—「佛法為行道故，不為益身，如養馬、養猪」 tr. "the Buddha's Dharma is for the sake of practising the path, not for the benefit of the body, as one feeds a horse or feeds a pig"; one takes up the dharma of eating in measured quantity: 「三分留一分，則身輕安穩」 tr. "of three portions one leaves one, and then the body is light and at ease", and Śāriputra's own words are cited: 「我若食五口、六口，足之以水，則足支身」 tr. "If I eat five or six mouthfuls and fill up with water, that is enough to support the body"; one takes up not drinking juices after midday, like a horse that is willing to go forward on the road only once it is fitted with bridle and bit; one takes up the dharma of dwelling among the tombs because 「眼見無常」 tr. "the eye sees impermanence", and one 「易得九相觀，是離欲初門」 tr. "easily obtains the contemplation of the nine marks, which is the first gate of freedom from desire"; one takes up the dharma of dwelling under a tree because 「如佛生時、成道時、轉法輪時、般涅槃時，皆在樹下」 tr. "as when the Buddha was born, when he attained the path, when he turned the wheel of the Dharma, and when he entered parinirvāṇa, all under a tree"; one takes up the dharma of dwelling in the open because under a tree there are still the faults of fond attachment and of rain leaking through, while in the open 「月光遍照，空中明淨，心易入空三昧」 tr. "the moonlight shines everywhere, the sky is bright and clear, and the mind easily enters the emptiness samādhi"; one takes up always sitting, never lying down, because 「諸煩惱賊常伺其便，不宜安臥」 tr. "the thieves of the afflictions are always watching for their opening; it is not fitting to lie at ease", and 「若欲睡時，脇不著席」 tr. "when one wishes to sleep, one's side does not touch the mat"; one takes up begging from house to house in order because one 「不著於味、不輕眾生、等心憐愍」 tr. "does not cling to flavours, does not belittle beings, and has pity on them with an even mind"; one takes up keeping only the three robes: 「衣趣蓋形，不多不少」 tr. "the robes serve only to cover the body, neither too many nor too few"; the white-robed store up many, the outside paths go naked, and the Buddha's disciples 「捨二邊、處中道行」 tr. "give up the two extremes and practise abiding in the middle way". At the end the whole is gathered up: among the four noble lineages of old, the dhūta practices 「即是三事」 tr. "are just three matters", and the Buddha always praised them; and one sentence puts the dhūta practices back in their proper place—「佛法唯以智慧為本，不以苦為先」 tr. "The Buddha's Dharma takes wisdom alone as its root; it does not put suffering first"; these dharmas all aid the path and are praised because they follow the path, not because ascetic practice is held to be superior.

The two rounds of the Last Part first lay out at length the discords between persons, then make clear Māra's transformed appearances. Sūtra ② pushes the pairs to their widest extent: one 「有信、有善」 tr. "has faith and has goodness" while one 「無信、破戒惡行」 tr. "has no faith, breaks the precepts, and acts evilly"; one can give everything while one 「悋法不施」 tr. "begrudges the Dharma and does not give it"; one wishes to make offerings of the four requisites while one does not wish to receive them; 「說法者易悟，聽法人闇鈍」 tr. "the speaker of the Dharma understands easily, while the hearer of the Dharma is dark and dull", and the reverse likewise; one knows the order and meaning of the twelve divisions of the scriptures, 「修妬路乃至優波提舍」 tr. "from sūtra up to upadeśa", while one does not; having or not having the six perfections, having or not having the power of skilful means, having or not having dhāraṇī; one 「離貪欲、瞋恚、睡眠、掉悔、疑」 tr. "is free of desire, ill will, sloth and torpor, restlessness and remorse, and doubt" while one is right in the midst of the five hindrances; at the time of writing out and upholding, perhaps someone comes and urges: 「三惡道中苦劇，汝何不於是身盡苦入涅槃？何用是阿耨多羅三藐三菩提為」 tr. "The suffering in the three evil paths is severe; why do you not end suffering in this very body and enter nirvāṇa? What use is this anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi (unsurpassed, right, and complete awakening)?", or praises the pleasures of the gods' meditation and absorption—「欲界中受五欲快樂，色界中受禪生樂，無色界中受寂滅樂」 tr. "in the desire realm one receives the joyful pleasures of the five desires, in the form realm one receives the pleasure born of meditation, in the formless realm one receives the pleasure of quiescence"—and urges him to take a small fruit; one 「一身無累，自在無礙」 tr. "is a single body without encumbrance, free and unobstructed" while one leads many followers; the teacher says, 「汝能隨我意者，當與汝般若波羅蜜」 tr. "If you can go along with my wishes, I will give you prajñāpāramitā", or the disciple wishes to follow him and the teacher does not allow it; giving the Dharma for wealth and gain, receiving the Dharma for wealth and gain—both make a crack; wishing to go to another region, to 「危命之處」 tr. "a place where life is in danger", to 「飢餓、穀貴、無水之處」 tr. "a place of famine, dear grain, and no water", one wishes to go and one does not wish to follow; wishing to go to 「豐樂之處」 tr. "a prosperous and pleasant place", the teacher's one sentence, 「汝為利養故追隨我」 tr. "You follow me for the sake of gain and offerings", makes the disciple weary in mind so that he stops; wishing to cross a wilderness with its 「賊怖、旃陀羅怖、獵師怖、惡獸毒蛇怖」 tr. "fear of thieves, fear of caṇḍālas, fear of hunters, fear of evil beasts and poisonous snakes", the teacher kindly holds him back, and the disciple suspects him of begrudging the Dharma; and so on up to the teacher who has many donors and often goes to call on them—「我有因緣，應往到彼」 tr. "I have a reason; I must go there"—and the disciple, knowing his intent, stops—round after round concludes with 「兩不和合」 tr. "the two are not in accord", 「當知是為魔事」 tr. "know that this is a deed of Māra". Treatise ② explains the circumstances item by item: why would one without faith receive the Dharma from another? 「但欲求名故讀、誦、廣說」 tr. "he reads, recites, and expounds widely only because he wishes to seek a name", and further, 「不能深心信樂般若故名不信，非都不信」 tr. "because he cannot with a deep mind have faith in and delight in prajñā, he is called without faith; it is not that he has no faith at all"; when the teacher cannot give, the disciple then doubts—「師少物不能捨，何況捨身！雖讚說布施，是為欺誑！」 tr. "The teacher cannot give up a small thing—how much less give up his body! Though he praises and speaks of giving, this is deceit!"; the teacher does not accept offerings, whether from having few desires, from shame, or for fear that people will say the disciple craves clothing and food—「此心雖好，不能成般若波羅蜜故，亦是魔事」 tr. "Though this mind is good, because it cannot accomplish prajñāpāramitā, it too is a deed of Māra"; this sentence is the whole chapter's measure for judging a deed of Māra: it does not ask whether the mind is good or not, it asks only whether prajñā is accomplished or not; 「師鈍根者，是誦經師，非解義師」 tr. "A teacher of dull faculties is a teacher who recites the sūtras, not a teacher who explains the meaning"; the teacher has the six perfections and belittles the disciple for having no practice at present—「是師不知弟子聞般若已，後成大事」 tr. "this teacher does not know that the disciple, having heard prajñā, will later accomplish the great matter", nor does the disciple know the causes and conditions of the teacher's turning about; one who has skilful means 「或時讚歎六波羅蜜；或時斷人著故，破散六波羅蜜」 tr. "at times praises the six perfections; at times, to cut off people's attachment, breaks up and scatters the six perfections", and one of straightforward faith therefore doubts him; 「陀羅尼有種種」 tr. "dhāraṇī are of many kinds": there are those who can uphold and recite but do not understand the meaning, and those who have obtained the meaning of the real mark but cannot read and recite in order, or the teacher has obtained hearing and retaining yet 「未得大悲故，輕賤弟子，不能教導」 tr. "because he has not yet obtained great compassion, belittles and despises the disciple and cannot teach and guide him"; 「一切眾生所行法，同則和合」 tr. "among all the dharmas that beings practise, where they are the same there is accord": one has left the coverings and one has not, and because they belittle each other they are not in accord; the one who urges and praises the gods 「雖不能都破其善行，且壞其大乘，授小乘法」 tr. "though he cannot wholly break his wholesome practice, for now ruins his Great Vehicle and gives him the dharma of the Small Vehicle"; in the round of calling on him at will, both ends can make a crack—the teacher dislikes it, 「何用是事？損我功德！」 tr. "What use is this? It diminishes my merit!", and the disciple thinks himself belittled and despised; the round of selling the Dharma is likewise—the disciple scorns the teacher, 「云何欲賣經法？」 tr. "How can he wish to sell the Dharma of the sūtras?", and the teacher looks down on the disciple as not having a pure mind; as for the dangers of other regions, the disciple's 「我有身，然後求法」 tr. "I must have a body; only then can I seek the Dharma" is indeed sparing the body, yet the teacher's holding him back is often a good mind—「師好心止弟子，不知是壞般若波羅蜜因緣」 tr. "the teacher holds back the disciple with a good mind, not knowing that this is a cause and condition for ruining prajñāpāramitā", or he thinks to himself, 「我身自死則可，云何枉他？」 tr. "If I myself die, that is acceptable; how could I wrong another?"; in the round of the teacher who values worldly ties, the disciple's one sentence gathers it all up: 「師貴俗緣，不貴於法。」 tr. "The teacher values worldly ties; he does not value the Dharma." Sūtra ③ turns to Māra's transformed appearances: 「惡魔作比丘形像來」 tr. "the evil Māra comes in the form and likeness of a bhikṣu" and tells people, 「如我所說經即是般若波羅蜜，此經非般若波羅蜜」 tr. "the sūtra that I speak is prajñāpāramitā; this sūtra is not prajñāpāramitā", whereupon 「有未受記菩薩便墮疑」 tr. "a bodhisattva who has not received the prediction falls into doubt"; or he makes the body of a bhikṣu and urges the bodhisattva 「於實際作證」 tr. "to realise it at the limit of reality" and take the four fruits or the path of the pratyekabuddha; or 「似般若波羅蜜諸魔事起」 tr. "the deeds of Māra of the semblance of prajñāpāramitā arise", and so on up to the semblance of the five perfections; or he gives the bodhisattva 「聲聞、辟支佛所應行經」 tr. "the sūtras that śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas should practise"; or 「惡魔作佛身金色丈光」 tr. "the evil Māra makes the body of a Buddha, golden-coloured with a fathom of light", so that the bodhisattva craves and clings to it; or he makes the body of a Buddha with a Saṅgha of bhikṣus, so that the bodhisattva expects of himself, 「我於當來世亦當如是從比丘僧為說法」 tr. "In a coming age I too shall in this way, attended by a Saṅgha of bhikṣus, speak the Dharma"; or 「惡魔化作無數百千萬億菩薩」 tr. "the evil Māra conjures up countless hundreds of thousands of myriads of koṭi of bodhisattvas" practising the six perfections to show people—because of craving and clinging, sarvajñā is diminished; why? because in the deep prajñā there is no form and so on up to no awakening, since 「一切諸法自性空」 tr. "all dharmas are empty of self-nature". At the end the Buddha himself speaks a simile: 「譬如閻浮提中珍寶：金、銀、琉璃、車𤦲、馬瑙、珊瑚等寶，多難多賊」 tr. "It is like the precious things of Jambudvīpa—gold, silver, beryl, giant clam, agate, coral and such treasures—which have many difficulties and many thieves"; when prajñā is written out and upheld there are likewise many thieves and many hindrances; and as for the one who can write out and uphold it and is not ruined by Māra, 「當知佛力故」 tr. "know that it is by the Buddha's power", and 「十方現在無量無邊阿僧祇諸佛亦助是善男子、善女人」 tr. "the measureless, boundless, asaṃkhyeya buddhas now present in the ten directions also help these good men and good women". Treatise ③ explains Māra's forms—「魔作大沙門形，有重威德，令人受其語」 tr. "Māra makes the form of a great śramaṇa, of weighty majesty and virtue, so that people accept his words"; mostly carrying sūtra scrolls, he 「呵毀先經，種種自讚所說」 tr. "rebukes and disparages the earlier sūtras and in all kinds of ways praises what he himself speaks"; or he urges the bodhisattva to set aside the dharma of emptiness for now—「汝常習此空，於中得證」 tr. "If you always train in this emptiness, you will realise it therein"—and to cultivate merit first: 「坐道場時，爾乃用空」 tr. "when you sit at the seat of awakening, only then use emptiness"; it explains the semblance of the perfections—「以著心行六波羅蜜，是名似」 tr. "to practise the six perfections with a clinging mind is called the semblance"; it explains why the sūtras of the two vehicles are called deeds of Māra—「無有慈悲，不求佛道，但欲自度；雖是好事，破菩薩道，故名魔事」 tr. "They have no kindness and compassion, do not seek the Buddha path, and wish only to cross over themselves; though they are good things, they break the bodhisattva path, and so are called deeds of Māra"; it explains why seeing the body of a Buddha is a deed of Māra—「一切煩惱、取相，皆是魔事」 tr. "every affliction and every grasping at marks is a deed of Māra": a small bodhisattva is not yet fit to see the body of a Buddha, and Māra makes a wondrous form, so that the mind clings to that body, 「如未離欲人見天女形」 tr. "like a person not yet free of desire who sees the form of a heavenly maiden"; it explains diminishment—「如人手捉重寶，有人以少金誑之，捨大價寶而取賤物，是名耗減」 tr. "It is like a person holding a heavy treasure in his hand, whom someone deceives with a little gold, so that he lets go the treasure of great price and takes the cheap thing—this is called diminishment"; it explains the simile of the precious things—「魔以般若波羅蜜多令眾生入涅槃故，魔作怨賊」 tr. "Because prajñāpāramitā leads many beings into nirvāṇa, Māra makes himself an enemy and thief"; those who disparage it 「但知三相：貪味、婬欲、瞋恚」 tr. "know only three marks: craving for flavours, sexual desire, and ill will"; it explains why Māra's power alone is great—「魔是欲界主」 tr. "Māra is the lord of the desire realm": the gods of the form and formless realms have soft and subtle minds and cannot break and ruin it, the lower gods have no power, and only Māra is complete in merit and wisdom and is the root of birth and death; it explains the Buddha's protection—the merit and wisdom of the bodhisattva who has newly aroused the mind are thin, and the buddhas, the bodhisattvas, and the gods break the deeds of Māra for him, 「如賊繞城，大人守護，小兒不覺」 tr. "as when thieves surround a city, the grown men keep guard and the small children do not notice". The last sentence of the whole chapter returns to plainness: 「師徒宜應和合，一切惡事，不應計念。」 tr. "Teacher and disciple should be in accord, and should not take any evil thing to heart."

For the whole chapter the sūtra and the treatise advance in alternation, three rounds each; by the boundary of the fascicles it is divided into two arcs, the First Part and the Last Part, and the head of the Last Part's fascicle carries the continued title 「之餘」 tr. "the remainder". The First Part sets up the form of the two discords and details one round—having or not having the dhūta practices—because this round is the subtlest: both have faith and have precepts, both are without offence, and yet prajñā still cannot be written out; the Last Part lays out the many rounds at length and exhausts their variations—from faith and precepts, keen and dull, all the way to Māra making the body of a Buddha: the cracks between person and person are told to the full, and then the forms in which Māra enters through the crack are told. The First Part makes clear that accord is a dharma of causes and conditions; the Last Part makes clear that the breaking of accord is a dharma of the deeds of Māra; the simile of the fire-drill stands at the head of the chapter, and the simile of the precious things gathers it up at the end—fire can be got only with two conditions, and treasure invites thieves because it is precious and weighty; the meaning of the whole chapter lies entirely between these two similes.

Therefore, in reading each round of pairs, one can ask at least three layers of questions. First, where does the fault of this pair's discord lie—does one end truly have a fault (slackness, begrudging the Dharma, no faith and broken precepts), or is each end without fault and only different (taking up the dhūta practices or not, many followers or few, going along with wishes or not)? The treatise-author says plainly that of the dhūta practices 「不能行，不犯戒」 tr. "if one cannot practise them, one does not break the precepts", and of accepting or not accepting offerings, 「此心雖好」 tr. "though this mind is good"; from this one can see that the fault of the two discords often does not lie on the side of good or of evil. Second, where does the criterion lie—the concluding phrase of each item never judges the person to have an offence, but says 「不得書深般若波羅蜜乃至正憶念」 tr. "the deep prajñāpāramitā cannot be written out, and so on up to rightly recollected"; 「不能成般若波羅蜜故，亦是魔事」 tr. "because it cannot accomplish prajñāpāramitā, it too is a deed of Māra": the judgement of a deed of Māra does not lie in whether the mind is good or bad, but in whether prajñā is accomplished or not. Third, who is Māra—the first half of the chapter is all cracks between person and person, and no form of Māra is seen; in the second half Māra makes a bhikṣu, makes a Buddha, makes bodhisattvas, and the forms grow instead ever more adorned. Read on along these three rounds of sūtra and treatise, and one will come at last to that explanatory sentence of the treatise-author: 「魔以般若波羅蜜多令眾生入涅槃故，魔作怨賊」 tr. "Because prajñāpāramitā leads many beings into nirvāṇa, Māra makes himself an enemy and thief"—the thief comes for the treasure, the difficulty arises for the Dharma; and so at its end the whole chapter does not teach people to fear Māra, but teaches only the one sentence 「師徒宜應和合」 tr. "teacher and disciple should be in accord".

Reading On in the Order of the Treatise

The Two Discords, First Part: Four Pairs of Deeds of Māra between Speaker and Hearer; The Simile of Seeking Fire with a Fire-Drill; The Dhūta Practices Are Not Precepts, and Not Practising Them Is No Offence; The Causes and Conditions of the Twelve Dhūta Practices One by One

What Is Being Asked

The deeds of Māra in the previous chapter were the hindrances within the practitioner's own person—scattered recollection, making light of the Dharma and exalting oneself, clinging to flavours and clinging to places. This chapter turns the lens to what lies between two people: the writing out, upholding, reading, reciting, asking the meaning, and right recollection of prajñā have never been the affair of one person; there must be a person who speaks the Dharma and a person who hears it, and only when the two minds come together can it be accomplished. The chapter title is 「兩不和合」 tr. "the two discords": the "two" are the speaker of the Dharma and the hearer of the Dharma; "discord" does not require that either of them be a bad person—one side wishes to write out and uphold while the other is slack, one side wishes to stay while the other wishes to go, one side values offerings while the other has few desires and knows contentment, one side takes up the dhūta practices while the other does not; each side has its own reasons, yet so long as 「二心不和」 tr. "the two minds are not in accord", prajñā cannot be written out and cannot be upheld, and the sūtra text judges every such case a deed of Māra. In the First Part, a single unit, the sūtra text sets out four such pairs, and each pair is stated once forwards and once in reverse—the speaker of the Dharma being thus while the hearer is so is a deed of Māra, and reversed, the hearer being thus while the speaker is so is likewise a deed of Māra—the fault attaches not to one side but to the discord. At the very opening the treatise-author points out why: every conditioned dharma arises from the coming together of causes and conditions, as when one seeks fire with a fire-drill—only when there is the drill and there is the base can the fire come out; the writing out of prajñā is accomplished by the inner and outer causes and conditions of teacher and disciple being 「同心同事」 tr. "of one mind and one undertaking". Then two rounds of question and answer determine the root of the sickness on each side—in the teacher, the five hindrances cover the mind, so that he can speak but cannot practise; in the disciple, the five wholesome roots are dull, he clings to worldly pleasure, and he is a hearer of the Dharma in name only—and teach the bodhisattva here to 「覺是魔事，防令不起」 tr. "be aware that this is a deed of Māra, and guard against it so that it does not arise". At the end the fourth pair draws out the twelve dhūta practices; the treatise-author explains, practice by practice, the causes and conditions for taking each one up, and fixes their standing with a single sentence: the dhūta practices are not called precepts; if one can practise them, the precepts are adorned; if one cannot practise them, one does not break the precepts; the Buddha's Dharma takes wisdom alone as its root and does not put suffering first. Why the coming together of teacher and disciple is so easily ruined, and why the dhūta practices are an adornment and not precepts—these are the two questions the First Part sets out to answer.

Passage by Passage

1. The first pair—slack and not wishing to speak, and not wishing to receive it. The sūtra text sets out the first pair: the hearer of the Dharma wishes to write out and uphold prajñāpāramitā, to read, recite, ask the meaning, and rightly recollect it; 「說法人懈墮，不欲為說」 tr. "the speaker of the Dharma is slack and does not wish to speak it for him"—know that this is a deed of Māra for the bodhisattva-mahāsattva. The reverse holds as well: the speaker of the Dharma's mind is not slack, and he wishes to have prajñā written out and upheld; 「聽法者不欲受之。二心不和，當知是為魔事」 tr. "the hearer of the Dharma does not wish to receive it. The two minds are not in accord; know that this is a deed of Māra". One wishes and the other does not wish, and the matter cannot be accomplished; with its very first pair the sūtra text lays down the sentence pattern of the whole chapter—stated once forwards and once in reverse, both directions judged alike as deeds of Māra; the fault lies in the two minds not being in accord, not in either side taken on its own.

2. The second pair—wishing to write out and uphold, and wishing to go to another region. If the hearer of the Dharma wishes to write out and uphold prajñā, to read and recite it and so on up to rightly recollecting it, and 「說法者欲至他方」 tr. "the speaker of the Dharma wishes to go to another region", know that this is a deed of Māra. If the speaker of the Dharma wishes to have prajñā written out and upheld, and the hearer of the Dharma wishes to go to another region, the two minds are not in accord, and this too is a deed of Māra. In this pair one cannot even tell good from bad—going far away is not necessarily a fault, and staying is not necessarily a virtue; it is only that one goes and one stays, and the matter of writing out and upholding is broken off. The subtlety of the deeds of Māra lies exactly in such places, where no offence can be pointed to and yet the work fails on the verge of completion.

3. The third pair—valuing offerings, and having few desires and knowing contentment. The speaker of the Dharma 「貴重布施衣服、飲食、臥具、醫藥、資生之物」 tr. "values the giving of clothing, food and drink, bedding, medicine, and the things that support life"; the hearer of the Dharma has 「少欲知足，行遠離行，攝念精進，一心智慧」 tr. "few desires and knows contentment, practises the practice of remoteness, gathers his mindfulness and is vigorous, with a one-pointed mind and wisdom". The two are not in accord and cannot write out prajñā, receive and uphold it, read, recite, ask the meaning, and rightly recollect it: know that this is a deed of Māra; conversely, when the hearer of the Dharma values offerings and the speaker of the Dharma has few desires and knows contentment, it is likewise a deed of Māra. The crucial point is this: having few desires and knowing contentment, remoteness, vigour, a one-pointed mind and wisdom—all five are virtues; yet when one side values gain and offerings and the other values remoteness, their aims do not match, and prajñā still cannot be written out—a virtue paired with the wrong counterpart also becomes a condition for a deed of Māra.

4. The fourth pair—taking up the twelve dhūta practices and not taking them up. The speaker of the Dharma takes up the twelve dhūta practices: 「一、作阿蘭若，二、常乞食，三、納衣，四、一坐食，五、節量食，六、中後不飲漿，七、塚間住，八、樹下住，九、露地住，十、常坐不臥，十一、次第乞食，十二、但三衣」 tr. "first, dwelling in the araṇya; second, always begging for food; third, wearing robes of cast-off rags; fourth, eating at one sitting; fifth, eating in measured quantity; sixth, not drinking juices after midday; seventh, dwelling among the tombs; eighth, dwelling under a tree; ninth, dwelling in the open; tenth, always sitting, never lying down; eleventh, begging from house to house in order; twelfth, keeping only the three robes"; the hearer of the Dharma does not take them up; the two are not in accord, and this is a deed of Māra. The reverse—the hearer of the Dharma takes them up and the speaker of the Dharma does not—is the same. The dhūta practices are an adornment of austerity: the one who takes them up takes them up for himself, and the one who does not take them up commits no offence—precisely because both sides are in the right, the difference in their ways of practice becomes the crack through which they are set apart; and this pair is also the occasion for the treatise-author's extended explanation of the twelve dhūta practices below.

5. The simile of seeking fire with a fire-drill—only when teacher and disciple are of one mind and one undertaking can the writing out be completed. The treatise-author explains: 「一切有為法，因緣和合故生，眾緣離則無。」 tr. "Every conditioned dharma arises because causes and conditions come together; when the conditions part, it is not." It is like seeking fire with a fire-drill: 「有鑽、有母，二事因緣得火」 tr. "there is the drill and there is the base, and by the causes and conditions of the two things the fire is got"; the writing out of prajñā, and so on up to right recollection, is likewise: it arises because inner and outer causes and conditions come together, 「所謂師、弟子同心同事故，乃得書成」 tr. "that is to say, only because teacher and disciple are of one mind and one undertaking can the writing out be completed". With the drill-stick but no base-stick the fire does not come out, and with the base-stick but no drill-stick it is the same—the accomplishing of prajñā rests on the meeting of two conditions, and this simile is the key to the whole chapter: every pair of discord that follows is one of the two sticks taken away.

6. The five wholesome roots and the five hindrances—a first judgement on the root of the sickness on each side. Therefore the Buddha tells Subhūti: the hearer of the Dharma, 「信等五善根發故」 tr. "because the five wholesome roots, faith and the rest, have been aroused", wishes to write out and uphold prajñā and so on up to rightly recollecting it; the speaker of the Dharma, 「五蓋覆心故，不欲說」 tr. "because the five hindrances cover his mind, does not wish to speak it". When faith, vigour, mindfulness, concentration, and wisdom are aroused, a person naturally turns toward the Dharma; when desire, ill will, sloth and torpor, restlessness and remorse, and doubt cover the mind, the mouth can speak but the mind does not wish to speak. The first layer of the pathology of the two discords is just this: the wholesome roots and the coverings rise and fall in turn in the two persons.

7. The question—how can one whose mind the five hindrances cover be a teacher? Question: 「若五蓋覆心故不欲說，何以作師？」 tr. "If, because the five hindrances cover his mind, he does not wish to speak, how can he be a teacher?" Since the coverings and entanglements cover his mind and he does not wish to speak the Dharma, on what grounds does such a person still occupy the place of a teacher? This question brings into the open, on the reader's behalf, the most unsparing of doubts: can the place of a teacher and the virtue of a teacher be separated?

8. The answer—he can know and speak but cannot himself practise; the disciple has nowhere else and must consult this person. Answer: this person clings to worldly pleasure and does not contemplate emptiness and impermanence; 「雖能心知、口說，不能自行」 tr. "though he can know it in his mind and speak it with his mouth, he cannot himself practise it". The disciple, though he surely wishes to practise, cannot know; 「不能知故，更無餘處，必諮此人」 tr. "because he cannot know, there is nowhere else for him, and he must consult this person". The answer is plain and level: knowing and practising can come apart; a teacher is a teacher by his ability to know and to speak, and what the disciple seeks is knowledge and insight—there is no other place to ask, and he can only consult this one. The place of a teacher is not the same as the virtue of a teacher—once this is seen clearly, the disciple need not abandon the Dharma because the teacher has coverings, and the teacher has no ground for relying on his place.

9. The teacher's compassion is aroused, and the disciple is dull and not aroused. Or at times it is the other way round: because the teacher's compassion is aroused, he wishes to have prajñā written out and upheld; the disciple, 「信等五善根鈍不發故，著世間樂故」 tr. "because the five wholesome roots, faith and the rest, are dull and not aroused, and because he clings to worldly pleasure", does not wish to receive it, write it out, uphold it, and so on up to rightly recollecting it. The waxing and waning of coverings and roots does not belong fixedly to either party—above, the teacher had the coverings and the disciple had the roots; here the teacher's compassion is aroused and the disciple's roots are dull. Each party is by turns the stronger and the weaker, which shows precisely that the fault of discord has no fixed owner.

10. The question—if he does not wish to receive and uphold it, how is he called a hearer of the Dharma? Question: 「若不欲受持，何以名為聽法者？」 tr. "If he does not wish to receive and uphold it, how is he called a hearer of the Dharma?" Since he does not wish to receive it, from where does the name 「聽法者」 tr. "hearer of the Dharma" get established? This question is symmetrical with the seventh: the earlier question concerned the emptiness of the name of teacher; this one concerns the emptiness of the name of disciple.

11. The answer—having heard and received a little or much, he cannot bring it to completion, and is only called a hearer of the Dharma. Answer: 「少多聽、受、讀、誦，不能究竟成就故，但名聽法。」 tr. "Because he has heard, received, read, and recited a little or much, but cannot bring it to final accomplishment, he is only called a hearer of the Dharma." He has heard some, and has read and recited some, only he cannot bring it to final accomplishment, and so he is only called a hearer of the Dharma. The reality under a name can be thick or thin—the one who is only called a hearer of the Dharma is a person standing at the doorway: one foot inside, and so he gets the name; one foot outside, and so he lacks the reality.

12. When good minds are shared, prajñā is attained; be aware of Māra and guard against his arising—where one falls short oneself, one should make it complete. The treatise-author judges the whole: 「若二人善心共同，能得般若波羅蜜；若不同則不能得，是名魔事。」 tr. "If the two persons' good minds are shared, they can attain prajñāpāramitā; if they are not shared, they cannot attain it, and this is called a deed of Māra." When afflictions arise within and the Māra who is a son of the gods creates causes and conditions from without, one is parted from this prajñā; the bodhisattva should be aware that this is a deed of Māra and 「防令不起。若自失，當具足；若弟子失，當教令得」 tr. "guard against it so that it does not arise. If the failing is his own, he should make it complete; if the failing is the disciple's, he should teach him so that he gains it". This passage is where the practice of the whole chapter lies: the deeds of Māra are not for pointing at the other party; they are for illuminating oneself—whichever stick one is missing oneself, one supplies oneself; whichever the disciple is missing, one teaches him to supply; when both ends are supplied, the fire can at last be drilled out.

13. The various causes and conditions for going to another region. The treatise-author explains the second pair: the teacher may be one whose 「慈悲心薄，捨弟子至他方」 tr. "mind of kindness and compassion is thin, who abandons his disciple and goes to another region"; or the water and soil do not suit him and the four great elements are not in harmony, or wholesome dharmas gain no increase, or flood and drought are ill-timed, or the land is laid waste and in disorder—for all such various causes and conditions he goes to another region; 「弟子亦種種因緣不能追隨」 tr. "the disciple too, for various causes and conditions, cannot follow after him". A whole string of reasons for going far away is listed—there is the fault of a thin mind, and there are also the unavoidable circumstances of water, soil, and the times; the disciple's not following also has its own causes and conditions. The treatise-author does not assign blame item by item; he only records the scattering of the conditions—when the conditions scatter, the matter fails, and this is exactly the basic mark of conditioned dharmas.

14. Valuing gain and offerings is like the five hindrances covering the mind above. 「貴重利養者，如上五蓋覆心等。」 tr. "As for valuing gain and offerings, it is like the five hindrances covering the mind and so on, above." The root of the sickness in the third pair needs no separate explanation—valuing gain and offerings is simply the covering of desire presently at work, of one kind with the five hindrances covering the mind above. It is passed over in a single sentence, which shows precisely that in the treatise-author's eyes the four pairs of the sūtra text come from one source: the unevenness between the covering and the arousing of the roots.

15. Both persons have faith and have precepts; one adorns them with the dhūta practices, and one cannot. The treatise-author explains the fourth pair: 「是二人皆有信、有戒，而一人以十二頭陀莊嚴戒，一人不能。」 tr. "These two persons both have faith and have precepts, but one adorns the precepts with the twelve dhūta practices and one cannot." First the premise is fixed—in this pair both parties have faith and both keep the precepts; neither is a breaker of the precepts; the difference is only that one further adorns his precepts with the dhūta practices and one cannot. Discord can arise between two good people, and this is the clear proof.

16. The question—why is it that one cannot? Question: 「一人何以故不能？」 tr. "Why is it that one cannot?" Since he has faith and has precepts, why is it that the dhūta practices cannot be carried out? This question leads into the judgement below on the standing of the dhūta practices—is it that he will not do them, that he cannot do them, or that they were never required in the first place?

17. The answer—the dhūta practices are not precepts; if one can practise them, they are an adornment; if one cannot, it is no offence; the simile of giving. Answer: the precepts laid down by the Buddha are received and upheld by the disciples; 「十二頭陀不名為戒，能行，則戒莊嚴；不能行，不犯戒」 tr. "the twelve dhūta practices are not called precepts; if one can practise them, the precepts are adorned; if one cannot practise them, one does not break the precepts". It is like giving: if one can practise it one obtains merit, and 「不能行者無罪」 tr. "one who cannot practise it has no fault"; the dhūta practices are likewise. Therefore when the two are not in accord, it is a deed of Māra. This is the most crucial judgement of standing in this unit: the precepts are laid down by the Buddha, the base line that must be received and upheld; the dhūta practices are an added practice, an adornment, which the practitioner chooses for himself. Precisely because the dhūta practices have nothing to do with keeping or breaking the precepts, to belittle and reproach one another over having or not having them is all the more unjust—it takes an adornment for a ruler of precepts, and whether measuring others or measuring oneself, it is a misuse.

18. The araṇya—the body far removed from clamour, the mind far removed from the five desires and the five hindrances. The treatise-author explains the twelve dhūta practices one by one. The practitioner, 「居家多惱亂故」 tr. "because household life has much vexation and disturbance", leaves his father and mother, wife and children, and kin, and goes forth to practise the path; yet 「師徒、同學還相結著，心復嬈亂」 tr. "teacher and disciples and fellow students again become bound to one another, and the mind is disturbed once more", and therefore he takes up the practice of the araṇya, so that his body is far removed from clamour and dwells in a quiet, empty place. As for remoteness, 「最近三里，能遠益善」 tr. "the nearest is three leagues; the farther one can go, the better"; having attained the body's remoteness, he 「亦當令心遠離五欲、五蓋」 tr. "should also make the mind far removed from the five desires and the five hindrances". Going forth leaves behind the entanglements of the household, and within the Saṅgha new entanglements arise—it is exactly this layer that the araṇya treats; and the distance of three leagues is only the point of entry: the body's remoteness must in the end come down to the mind's remoteness, or else one has nothing but a quiet, empty plot of ground.

19. Always begging for food—the faults of invitation meals and Saṅgha meals. Whether one accepts invitation meals or eats the food of the assembly of the Saṅgha, it 「起諸漏因緣」 tr. "gives rise to the causes and conditions of the outflows". One who accepts invitation meals, when invited, prides himself, 「我是福德好人故得」 tr. "I get this because I am a person of merit and goodness"; when not invited, he resents the one who invites—「不應請者請，應請者不請」 tr. "he invites those who should not be invited and does not invite those who should be invited"—or he belittles himself, is vexed, reproaches himself, and gives rise to sorrow and suffering: 「是貪、憂法，則能遮道」 tr. "these are dharmas of greed and sorrow, and they can obstruct the path". One who eats the Saṅgha's food, having entered the assembly, must follow the ways of the assembly—settling affairs, expelling people, managing the business of the Saṅgha, making arrangements, running errands—and 「心則散亂，妨廢行道」 tr. "the mind is then scattered, and the practice of the path is hindered and neglected". Therefore he takes up the practice of always begging for food. Begging for food with a single bowl avoids both ends: the greed and sorrow of accepting invitations, and the scattering of following the assembly—when begging for food does not pick where the food comes from, the mind has nothing to cling to.

20. Wearing robes of cast-off rags—fine robes as a cause for falling into wrong livelihood and inviting the calamity of thieves. Because of fine robes, one 「四方追逐，墮邪命中」 tr. "chases after them in the four directions and falls into wrong livelihood"; accepting fine robes from people gives rise to close attachment, and if one is not closely attached, the donor resents it; obtaining robes within the Saṅgha has the faults of entering the assembly described above. Again, fine robes are 「未得道者生貪著處」 tr. "a place where those who have not attained the path give rise to craving and clinging", and fine robes are a cause that 「招致賊難，或至奪命」 tr. "invites the calamity of thieves, which may even go as far as the taking of life". Because there are troubles such as these, he takes up the practice of shabby robes of cast-off rags. Of a single fine robe the treatise-author counts out four calamities: the wrong way of losing one's life in pursuit of robes, the attachment of being bound by a gift received, the disorder of obtaining robes within the Saṅgha, and the danger of inviting thieves and losing one's body—what the shabby robe of rags discards is not the robe but these four threads of calamity.

21. Eating at one sitting—the Buddha's Dharma is for the sake of practising the path, not for the benefit of the body. The practitioner thinks thus: 「求一食尚多有所妨，何況小食、中食、後食！若不自損，則失半日之功，不能一心行道。」 tr. "Seeking even one meal hinders much—how much more the small meal, the midday meal, and the after-meal! If I do not cut back on my own account, I lose half a day's work and cannot practise the path with one mind." The Buddha's Dharma is for the sake of practising the path, not for the benefit of the body, 「如養馬、養猪」 tr. "as one feeds a horse or feeds a pig". Therefore he cuts off eating again and again and takes up the practice of one meal. The simile of feeding a horse and feeding a pig is exceedingly sharp—if nourishing the physical body has nothing to do with practising the path, how is it different from feeding livestock? What eating at one sitting cuts off is the two Chinese characters 「數數」 tr. "again and again": it is not that one does not eat; it is that one does not let the search for food eat up half a day of the work of the path.

22. Eating in measured quantity—leaving one part in three; Śāriputra's five or six mouthfuls. Some people, though they eat once, 「貪心極噉，腹脹氣塞，妨廢行道」 tr. "eat to the utmost with a greedy mind, so that the belly swells and the breath is blocked, and the practice of the path is hindered and neglected"; therefore one takes up the practice of eating in measured quantity. To measure the quantity is, according to what one is able to eat, to 「三分留一分」 tr. "leave one part out of three"; then the body is light and at ease, the food is easily digested and there is no trouble, and when there is no harm to the body there is no neglect of the practice of the path. As Śāriputra says in a sūtra: 「我若食五口、六口，足之以水，則足支身。」 tr. "If I eat five or six mouthfuls and fill up with water, that is enough to support the body." Among the people of Qin, this would be about ten mouthfuls. Eating at one sitting limits the number of meals, eating in measured quantity limits the amount—greed can shrink into a single meal and go on at its work, and so one more layer must be added; leaving one part is not tormenting the body; it is precisely the measure of nourishment that is 「於身無損」 tr. "without harm to the body".

23. Not drinking juices after midday—the simile of the horse fitted with the bridle. Some people, though they eat in measured quantity, 「過中飲漿，則心樂著」 tr. "drink juices after midday, and then the mind delights and clings", and seek all kinds of juices—fruit juice, honey juice, and the like—seeking and desiring without being sated, and cannot cultivate wholesome dharmas with one mind. It is like a horse not fitted with the bridle, which 「左右噉草，不肯進路」 tr. "eats grass to the left and right and will not go forward on the road"; if it is fitted with the bridle, the thought of eating grass is cut off, and it goes where the rider wishes. Therefore one takes up not drinking juices after midday. Greed has retreated again into juices—the meals are limited, the amount is limited, and yet one mouthful of sweet juice can still lead away the whole mind. The simile of the bridle makes it plain: it is not that juice carries some great offence; it is that where there is no limit the mind is sure to stray aside, and where there is a limit the thought is cut off and the road goes forward.

24. Dwelling among the tombs—seeing impermanence with one's own eyes; the contemplation of the nine marks is the first gate of leaving desire. 「無常、空觀是入佛法門，能厭離三界。」 tr. "The contemplation of impermanence and of emptiness is the gate of entry into the Buddha's Dharma; it can make one weary of and leave the three realms." Among the tombs there are always sounds of grieving and weeping, and corpses lie strewn about; one 「眼見無常」 tr. "sees impermanence with one's own eyes"; afterwards they are burned by fire or eaten by birds and beasts, and before long they are utterly gone; by means of this contemplation of corpses, among all dharmas one 「易得無常相、空相」 tr. "easily attains the mark of impermanence and the mark of emptiness". Again, dwelling among the tombs, one sees corpses stinking, rotting, and impure, and so 「易得九相觀，是離欲初門」 tr. "easily attains the contemplation of the nine marks, which is the first gate of leaving desire". Therefore one takes up the practice of dwelling among the tombs. The first six items treat the greed for food and clothing; from here the next four choose dwelling places as provisions for the practice of contemplation—the tombs are the fiercest of classrooms: impermanence is not read from a book but seen directly in the corpse before one's eyes.

25. Dwelling under a tree—following the dharma of the buddhas, one always stays under a tree. Having been able to practise the contemplations of impurity, impermanence, and the rest, 「得道事辦，捨至樹下」 tr. "having attained the path and accomplished the matter, one leaves and goes to the foot of a tree"; or, for one who has not yet attained the path, the mind is not greatly wearied, and he takes up this mark and reflects on it under a tree. As with the Buddha, 「生時、成道時、轉法輪時、般涅槃時，皆在樹下」 tr. "when he was born, when he attained the path, when he turned the wheel of the Dharma, and when he entered parinirvāṇa, he was always under a tree"; the practitioner, following the dharma of the buddhas, always stays under a tree. The tombs are the place of the preparatory practice, and the foot of the tree is the place of abiding—those whose contemplation is accomplished move here to chew it over, and those whose contemplation is not yet accomplished take up the mark and continue contemplating; and the single phrase 「隨諸佛法」 tr. "following the dharma of the buddhas" points out another layer of meaning in the foot of the tree: the four great events of the Buddha's whole life all took place under a tree, and to sit under a tree is to walk in the Buddha's footsteps.

26. Dwelling in the open—the two faults of the foot of a tree; the moonlight shines everywhere and the mind easily enters emptiness. The practitioner may regard the foot of the tree as 「如半舍無異，蔭覆涼樂，又生愛著」 tr. "no different from half a hut, shaded, cool, and pleasant, and again gives rise to loving attachment"—where I dwell is good, that other tree is not as good—and because outflows arise in such ways, he goes to dwell in the open. He reflects that the foot of a tree has two kinds of fault: 「一者、雨漏濕冷，二者、鳥屎污身，毒蟲所住」 tr. "first, the rain leaks through and it is damp and cold; second, bird droppings soil the body, and poisonous insects dwell there"; open ground has none of these troubles. Dwelling in the open, one puts on and takes off one's robes as one pleases, in ease and joy; 「月光遍照，空中明淨，心易入空三昧」 tr. "the moonlight shines everywhere, the sky is bright and clear, and the mind easily enters the emptiness samādhi". Even a patch of tree-shade can give rise to the clinging of 「我所」 tr. "mine"—here the subtle marks of greed are laid entirely bare. The item of dwelling in the open is not only the removal of troubles; it also has a positive benefit: overhead there remain only the bright moon and empty space, the mind and its object resemble each other, and the emptiness samādhi easily comes into accord.

27. Always sitting, never lying down—the thieves of the afflictions are always watching for their chance. Among the four postures of the body, 「坐為第一」 tr. "sitting is foremost": food is easily digested, and the breath is harmonious. For one who seeks the path, 「大事未辦，諸煩惱賊常伺其便，不宜安臥」 tr. "the great matter is not yet accomplished, and the thieves of the afflictions are always watching for their chance; it is not fitting to lie down at ease"; if one walks or stands, the mind moves and is hard to collect, and one cannot keep it up for long either. Therefore one takes up the practice of always sitting; if one wishes to sleep, 「脇不著席」 tr. "the flank does not touch the mat". Each of the four postures of walking, standing, sitting, and lying has its loss: lying down gives the thieves their chance, walking and standing shake the mind, and only sitting is well-balanced—always sitting keeps the body in the one posture most fit for the work; and the phrase about the flank not touching the mat means that even when drowsiness comes, the guard is not withdrawn.

28. Begging from house to house in order—not clinging to flavours and not belittling beings. The practitioner, 「不著於味、不輕眾生、等心憐愍故，次第乞食；不擇貧富故，受次第乞食法」 tr. "because he does not cling to flavours, does not belittle beings, and pities them with an equal mind, begs from house to house in order; because he does not choose between poor and rich, he takes up the practice of begging from house to house in order". If in begging for food one picks the doorways, the two sicknesses of greed for flavour and contempt for people arise from it—picking rich houses is greed on the tongue, passing over poor houses is contempt in the mind. Begging in order, walking past house after house equally, flavours cannot be picked and people cannot be belittled, and pity with an equal mind is carried out under one's own feet.

29. Keeping only the three robes—leaving the two extremes and abiding in the middle way. The practitioner has few desires and knows contentment; 「衣趣蓋形，不多不少故，受但三衣法」 tr. "clothing is only for covering the body, neither too much nor too little, and so he takes up the practice of keeping only the three robes". The white-robed, seeking pleasure, keep many kinds of clothing, while some of the outside paths, for the sake of austerity, go naked and without shame; therefore the Buddha's disciples 「捨二邊、處中道行」 tr. "leave the two extremes and practise abiding in the middle way". Because dwelling places and food are in constant use there are many matters concerning them; 「衣不須日日求，故略說」 tr. "clothing need not be sought every day, and so it is spoken of briefly". The single item of the three robes goes so far as to express the great meaning of the middle way: keeping many is the extreme of indulging in pleasure, going naked is the extreme of austerity, and the three robes, neither too many nor too few, are precisely a bodily teaching of leaving the two extremes. The last sentence also explains for itself why the treatment is detailed or brief—because the matter of clothing is simple the text speaks of it briefly; it is not that its weight is light.

30. The Buddha's intent in praising the twelve dhūta practices—following the practice of the path and relinquishing worldly pleasure. 「是十二頭陀，佛意欲令弟子隨道行、捨世樂故，讚十二頭陀。」 tr. "As for these twelve dhūta practices, the Buddha praised the twelve dhūta practices because his intent was to have his disciples follow the practice of the path and relinquish worldly pleasure." Having explained the twelve items one by one, the treatise-author first gathers them up in one sentence: the Buddha's praise of the dhūta practices praises their effect of following the path and relinquishing pleasure, not suffering in itself. This sentence lays the road in advance for the closing passage, 「不以苦為先」 tr. "it does not put suffering first".

31. The dhūta practices as the root, and wisdom as the root—among the four noble lineages, the dhūta practices are three of them. It is the Buddha's intent 「常以頭陀為本；有因緣，不得已而聽餘事」 tr. "always to take the dhūta practices as the root; when there are causes and conditions, he permits other things because he cannot do otherwise". So when he turned the wheel of the Dharma and the five bhikṣus first attained the path, they said to the Buddha, 「我等著何等衣」 tr. "What kind of robes should we wear?", and the Buddha said, 「應著納衣」 tr. "You should wear robes of cast-off rags"; again, in the procedure of receiving the precepts, one wears robes of cast-off rags, begs for food, dwells under a tree, and uses discarded medicine for the rest of one's life—「於古四聖種中，頭陀即是三事」 tr. "among the ancient four noble lineages, the dhūta practices are three of them". And at the end the treatise-author gathers up both sides: 「佛法唯以智慧為本，不以苦為先。是法皆助道、隨道故，諸佛常讚歎。」 tr. "The Buddha's Dharma takes wisdom alone as its root; it does not put suffering first. Because these dharmas all aid the path and follow the path, the buddhas always praise them." The dhūta practices as the root is the constant provision of the gate of teaching; wisdom as the root is the settled aim of the Buddha's Dharma—the two uses of the word 「本」 tr. "root" do not obstruct each other: the dhūta practices receive praise precisely because they aid the path and follow the path; they are an adornment that leads toward wisdom, not an austerity contending with wisdom for its place.

Do Not Misread

Do not read 「兩不和合」 tr. "the two discords" as a matter of pursuing the guilt of one side. Every pair in the sūtra text is stated once forwards and once in reverse—the speaker of the Dharma being slack is a deed of Māra, and the hearer of the Dharma not wishing to receive is likewise a deed of Māra; and even where one side has few desires and knows contentment while the other values offerings, a virtue paired with craving also makes a deed of Māra. The criterion is from beginning to end 「二心不和」 tr. "the two minds are not in accord", not the goodness or badness of either side; to read this chapter as a denunciation of evil teachers or evil disciples is to miss exactly its deepest layer—between two good people, a deed of Māra still takes place.

Do not read the teacher whose mind the five hindrances cover as one who cannot be relied upon. The treatise-author states plainly that this person, 「雖能心知、口說，不能自行」 tr. "though he can know it in his mind and speak it with his mouth, he cannot himself practise it", while the disciple, 「不能知故，更無餘處，必諮此人」 tr. "because he cannot know, there is nowhere else for him, and he must consult this person"—the place of a teacher and the virtue of a teacher are examined separately, and knowledge and insight can still be gained from him. If one reads it as saying that a teacher with coverings and entanglements must always be abandoned, the disciple would truly have nowhere to hear the Dharma; what the sūtra text judges is the failing of two minds not in accord, not a pronouncement on who is unfit to be a teacher.

Do not read the twelve dhūta practices as rules of precept. The treatise-author settles it with one stroke: 「十二頭陀不名為戒，能行，則戒莊嚴；不能行，不犯戒」 tr. "the twelve dhūta practices are not called precepts; if one can practise them, the precepts are adorned; if one cannot practise them, one does not break the precepts", and uses giving as a simile—if one can practise it one obtains merit; if one cannot practise it there is no fault. If one reads the dhūta practices as precepts, the one who takes them up grows proud and the one who does not grows ashamed, and both sides add to the crack of belittling each other; the sūtra text lists precisely the having or not having of the dhūta practices as a condition of discord, and what it warns against is exactly this mutual reproach that mistakes their standing.

Do not read the dhūta practices as taking suffering as the path. The causes and conditions of every item are tied to practising the path—eating at one sitting so as not to lose half a day's work, eating in measured quantity so that the body is light and at ease, 「於身無損」 tr. "without harm to the body", dwelling in the open so that the mind easily enters the emptiness samādhi; and at the end it says outright, 「佛法唯以智慧為本，不以苦為先」 tr. "the Buddha's Dharma takes wisdom alone as its root; it does not put suffering first". The dhūta practices are an adornment that aids the path, and suffering is only the price that comes along with them; if one turns it around, putting suffering first and taking self-torment as virtue, one falls to the side of the outside paths' going naked that the sūtra text points to.

Do not read 「防令不起」 tr. "guard against it so that it does not arise" as guarding against the other party. The treatise-author's practice is 「若自失，當具足；若弟子失，當教令得」 tr. "if the failing is his own, he should make it complete; if the failing is the disciple's, he should teach him so that he gains it"—the action that follows awareness of a deed of Māra is to supply oneself and to teach the other, bringing both ends to completion, not to be on guard at both ends. Awareness of the deeds of Māra is a mirror for illuminating oneself, not a searchlight trained on others.

Bearing on Practice

Use the four pairs to examine the conditions of learning together. Whenever one accomplishes a matter of the Dharma together with others—reading together, cultivating together, requesting the Dharma, transmitting the Dharma—first take the four pairs of this unit and hold them up against it: does one wish while the other is slack? Does one stay while the other goes? Does one value gain and offerings while the other values remoteness? Are their ways of practice far apart in strictness and leniency? When one feels that the matter will not move forward, do not hurry to blame the other person; first recognise that this is the mark of the deed of Māra of 「二心不和」 tr. "the two minds are not in accord" appearing before one—to recognise it is to be aware, and to be aware is already to guard.

Use 「若自失，當具足；若弟子失，當教令得」 tr. "if the failing is his own, he should make it complete; if the failing is the disciple's, he should teach him so that he gains it" to settle the responsibility of the present moment. When the conditions between teacher and disciple break down, it is easiest to fall into pointing at one another: the teacher blames the disciple's dullness, the disciple blames the teacher's slackness. The sūtra and treatise give only one direction for setting to work—where the lack is in oneself, supply oneself; where the lack is in the other, help the other. In seeking fire with a fire-drill, neither of the two sticks can be missing; rather than deciding who should bear the responsibility, let each hand over his own stick.

Use the standing of the dhūta practices to protect harmony between oneself and others. If one practises the dhūta practices oneself, remember that they are an adornment and not precepts, and do not on this account belittle those who do not practise them; if a companion practises the dhūta practices and one cannot, remember 「不能行，不犯戒」 tr. "if one cannot practise them, one does not break the precepts", and there is no need for self-reproach, nor any need to mock the other's austerity. Differences in ways of practice are fundamentally the scenery along the path; only when they are mistaken for high and low do they become the crack that sets people apart.

Take the twelve dhūta practices as a chest of medicines for counteracting. One need not take up all twelve, but one can recognise the medicines one by one: if one craves invitations and craves the assembly, learn the intent of begging for food; if one clings to clothing, think of the frugality of shabby robes of rags; if one is heavy and dull after eating, try eating in measured quantity and leaving one part; if lying down much makes one lose mindfulness, collect the mind while sitting; if one picks and chooses among the people who make offerings, practise the equality of begging in order. The treatise-author has made the causes and conditions of every item clear—recognise one's own sickness and take the right single medicine, and do not regard taking them all up as the higher thing.

Constantly recite 「唯以智慧為本，不以苦為先」 tr. "takes wisdom alone as its root; it does not put suffering first" to check the direction of one's effort. When austerity begins to show a little strength, it is easiest to take suffering secretly for merit itself, piling on self-torment while wisdom does not increase. Ask oneself with this sentence: is this measure of suffering aiding the path and following the path, or is it only accomplishing an 'I' who can endure suffering? If it aids the path, continue; if it accomplishes the 'I', let it go.

Further Resonances

The First Part, a single unit of one sūtra passage and one treatise passage, establishes the general outline and the first listing of the chapter of the two discords. The four pairs of the sūtra text—slack and not wishing to speak, wishing to go to another region, valuing offerings against having few desires, taking up the dhūta practices or not—are set out both forwards and in reverse, and the criterion is fixed in the four Chinese characters 「二心不和」 tr. "the two minds are not in accord"; the treatise-author holds the whole chapter together with the one simile of seeking fire with a fire-drill—only when teacher and disciple are of one mind and one undertaking can the writing out be completed—and goes on to judge the root of the sickness on each side by the five wholesome roots and the five hindrances, to examine in two rounds of question and answer the emptiness or reality of the name of teacher and the name of disciple, and to conclude in the mutual supplying of self and other, 「覺是魔事，防令不起」 tr. "be aware that this is a deed of Māra, and guard against it so that it does not arise"; at the end, on the occasion of the fourth pair, he explains the twelve dhūta practices at length, setting out the causes and conditions of each item, fixing their standing with 「十二頭陀不名為戒，能行，則戒莊嚴；不能行，不犯戒」 tr. "the twelve dhūta practices are not called precepts; if one can practise them, the precepts are adorned; if one cannot practise them, one does not break the precepts", and fixing their aim with 「唯以智慧為本，不以苦為先」 tr. "takes wisdom alone as its root; it does not put suffering first". When the conditions come together the fire comes out; when the conditions part the matter fails—the First Part establishes this principle. As for the further pairs of the two discords—faith and goodness against breaking the precepts, able to give against begrudging, making offerings against not receiving them, keenness and dullness far apart, knowing and not knowing the twelve divisions of the scriptures, having and not having the six perfections and the power of skilful means, obtaining and losing dhāraṇī, parting from and meeting with the five hindrances, and on to the outer hindrances of urging one to take nirvāṇa and of praising the gods, the four types of Māra's conjured appearances—transforming into a bhikṣu, the body of a Buddha, the Buddha with the Saṅgha, and hundreds of thousands of bodhisattvas—and the simile of the precious things of Jambudvīpa with their many thieves and many difficulties—the Last Part of this chapter goes on to unfold them; they are not anticipated here.

The Two Discords, Last Part: The Paired Deeds of Māra between Speaker and Hearer, Outside Conditions Urging Retreat, the Four Types of the Evil Māra's Apparitions, the Simile of the Precious Things of Jambudvīpa, and the Protection of the Buddhas

What Is Being Asked

The First Part opened the chapter and set up the basic pattern of 「兩不和合」 tr. "the two discords": the hearer of the Dharma wishes to write out and uphold, but the speaker of the Dharma is slack; the speaker of the Dharma wishes to give, but the hearer of the Dharma does not wish to receive; when the two minds are not in accord, that is a deed of Māra. Wishing to go to another region, valuing giving and having few desires and being content, taking up or not taking up the twelve dhūta practices—four sets of pairs are stated both ways, forward and reverse. The treatise-author took seeking fire with a fire-drill as the simile—there is the drill and there is the base, and by the causes and conditions of the two things fire is got; writing out prajñā is also like this: only when teacher and disciple are of one mind and one undertaking is the writing out completed—and set the general principle of the whole chapter; then he explained, practice by practice, the causes and conditions of the twelve dhūta practices: dwelling in the araṇya to be far from clamour and bustle, always begging for food to cut off the conditions of the outflows, wearing robes of cast-off rags to be free of the troubles of fine robes, eating at one sitting and eating in measured quantity, not drinking juices after midday, dwelling among the tombs, under a tree, and in the open, always sitting, begging from house to house in order, keeping only the three robes; and at the end he closed the meaning of the dhūta practices with 「佛法唯以智慧為本，不以苦為先」 tr. "the Buddha's Dharma takes wisdom alone as its root; it does not put suffering first". The Last Part carries on from this and pushes the listing of pairs through the whole register: faith and goodness against broken precepts, able to give against begrudging, receiving offerings against not receiving, quick to understand against dull and dark, knowing and not knowing the twelve divisions of the scriptures, having and not having accomplished the six perfections, having and not having the power of skilful means, having and not having dhāraṇī, having and not having the wish to write out and uphold, parted and not parted from the five hindrances, and on to those of the outside paths coming to urge, few or many followers, following one's own wishes, wealth and gain, safety and danger, famine and plenty in another region, the terrors of the wilderness, the circumstances of a donor—every one of them stated both ways. When the listing has been exhausted, the sūtra turns to a more dangerous layer: the evil Māra no longer borrows the gap between teacher and disciple but conjures himself in person—he takes the form of a bhikṣu to slander the true sūtra and to urge realisation of the limit of reality, he makes the body of a Buddha, the body of a Buddha together with a Saṅgha, and conjures countless bodhisattvas, so that people crave and cling and sarvajñā, omniscience, is diminished; at the end, the simile of the precious things of Jambudvīpa, with their many thieves, sums up why the hindrances are many, and it all comes back to the Buddha's power and the protection of the buddhas and bodhisattvas of the ten directions. What the Last Part asks is two questions: between teacher and disciple, how can even a good mind become a deed of Māra? And in what Māra conjures, how can even the body of a Buddha not be craved and clung to? The answer is one inward and one outward: inwardly, ‘ruining the causes and conditions of prajñā’ is the one criterion of a deed of Māra, without asking whether the intention was good or evil; outwardly, 「一切諸法自性空」 tr. "all dharmas are empty of self-nature" is the one ground for sifting out Māra's apparitions, not being turned by marks. And at the very end of the whole fascicle, what the Buddha's intent comes back to is only one sentence—teacher and disciple should be in accord.

Passage by Passage

1. Faith and goodness against no faith and broken precepts. The speaker of the Dharma has faith and has goodness, and wishes to write out, receive, and uphold the deep prajñā, and so on up to rightly recollecting it; the hearer of the Dharma has no faith, breaks the precepts, and acts evilly, and does not wish to write out or receive it—know that this is a deed of Māra. The other way round: the hearer of the Dharma has faith and goodness, the speaker of the Dharma has no faith, breaks the precepts, and acts evilly; the two are in discord—know that this is a deed of Māra. The first pair of the Last Part is set up from 「信」 tr. "faith": the giving and receiving of prajñā has faith as its base; when one side has faith and the other has none, the Dharma has no way to pass from hand to hand—the having or not having of faith can be an obstruction in both directions, forward and reverse.

2. Able to give against begrudging. The speaker of the Dharma can give everything and his mind is not stingy, while the hearer of the Dharma begrudges and will not let go—this is a deed of Māra; the hearer of the Dharma can give everything and his mind is not stingy, while the speaker of the Dharma begrudges the Dharma and does not give it; the two are in discord, and they cannot write out and uphold prajñā, and so on up to rightly recollecting it—this is a deed of Māra. This pair bears on both wealth and Dharma: the disciple begrudges wealth, the teacher begrudges the Dharma; what is begrudged differs, but alike it cuts off the road of giving and receiving.

3. Offering against not receiving. The hearer of the Dharma wishes to make offerings to the speaker of the Dharma of robes, food and drink, bedding, medicine, and whatever is needed to support life, and the speaker of the Dharma does not wish to receive them—this is a deed of Māra; the speaker of the Dharma wishes to supply the hearer of the Dharma with robes and so on up to whatever is needed to support life, and the hearer of the Dharma does not wish to receive them; the two are in discord—this is a deed of Māra. This pair is the one most able to startle one awake: the wish to offer and the wish to supply are both good minds, and not receiving may also come from having few desires—yet the causes and conditions of prajñā are cut off right here; the judgement of a deed of Māra does not wait for an evil mind.

4. Quick to understand against dull and dark. The speaker of the Dharma is quick to understand and the hearer of the Dharma is dull and dark—this is a deed of Māra; the hearer of the Dharma is quick to understand and the speaker of the Dharma is dull and dark; the two are in discord—this is a deed of Māra. Keenness and dullness of faculties are no fault in themselves; yet the keen cannot bear the slowness of the dull, and the dull cannot keep up with the speed of the keen; when the two speeds are not matched, the wheel of the Dharma stalls.

5. Knowing and not knowing the order and meaning of the twelve divisions of the scriptures. The speaker of the Dharma knows the order and meaning of the twelve divisions of the scriptures—that is, sūtra and so on up to upadeśa—and the hearer of the Dharma does not know them—this is a deed of Māra; the hearer of the Dharma knows them and the speaker of the Dharma does not; the two are in discord—this is a deed of Māra. The learning of the forms of the teaching also becomes one item among the pairs: when one side is versed in the order and the other is not, the teaching loses its steps.

6. Having and not having accomplished the six perfections. The speaker of the Dharma has accomplished the six perfections and the hearer of the Dharma has not; the two are in discord, and they cannot write out the deep prajñā, and so on up to rightly recollecting it—this is a deed of Māra; the hearer of the Dharma has the six perfections and the speaker of the Dharma has not; the two are in discord—this too is a deed of Māra. The having or not having of practice and realisation is also stated both ways—the real situation of this pair the treatise-author will dissect in detail below (passage 29).

7. Having and not having the power of skilful means. The speaker of the Dharma has the power of skilful means in the six perfections and the hearer of the Dharma has no power of skilful means; the two are in discord—this is a deed of Māra; the hearer of the Dharma has the power of skilful means and the speaker of the Dharma has not—this too is a deed of Māra. Above the six perfections one more item is set up, 「方便」 tr. "skilful means": to have the practice but no skilful means, or to have skilful means that the other does not recognise—both become a barrier.

8. Having and not having dhāraṇī. The speaker of the Dharma has obtained dhāraṇī and the hearer of the Dharma has no dhāraṇī; the two are in discord—this is a deed of Māra; the hearer of the Dharma has obtained dhāraṇī and the speaker of the Dharma has not—this too is a deed of Māra. The power of upholding the Dharma is unequal, and this too is a condition of discord—how, when the disciple has obtained it and the teacher has not, the teacher can still be a teacher, the treatise-author has his own analysis below (passage 32).

9. Having and not having the wish to write out and uphold. The speaker of the Dharma wishes to have prajñā written out and upheld, and so on up to rightly recollected, and the hearer of the Dharma does not wish to write out, uphold, read, recite, and so on up to rightly recollect it; the two are in discord—this is a deed of Māra; the hearer of the Dharma wishes to write out, read, recite, and expound prajñā, and the speaker of the Dharma does not wish to have it written out, and so on up to not wishing to have it expounded; the two are in discord—this is a deed of Māra. This pair comes back to the most direct layer: one end hot, one end cold, and the matter is not accomplished.

10. Parted and not parted from the five hindrances. The speaker of the Dharma is parted from desire, ill will, sloth and torpor, restlessness and remorse, and doubt, and the hearer of the Dharma is not parted from them—this is a deed of Māra; the hearer of the Dharma is parted from the five hindrances and the speaker of the Dharma is not; the two are in discord—this is a deed of Māra. The five hindrances are dharmas that cover the mind; when one side is covered and the other is not, the light and dark of the mind's ground are not matched, and the condition of a shared undertaking grows thin—the treatise-author points out below (passage 36) the two Chinese characters 「相輕」 tr. "belittle each other" as the root of the sickness.

11. One of the outside paths rebukes with the three evil destinies and urges a quick entry into nirvāṇa. When one is writing out the deep prajñā, and so on up to rightly recollecting it, someone may come and say: the suffering in the three evil destinies is severe; why not, in this very body, exhaust suffering and enter nirvāṇa—what do you still want anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi for? The two are in discord—this is a deed of Māra. This urging uses dread of suffering as bait: borrowing the fearfulness of the three evil destinies, it urges a person to give up the long, far Buddha path and take the nirvāṇa that is quickly finished—the words seem compassionate, but in truth they cut the root of the Great Vehicle.

12. One of the outside paths praises the gods and urges taking the fruit of the Small Vehicle. Or someone comes and praises the gods of the Four Heavenly Kings and so on up to the gods of neither perception nor non-perception, praises the first dhyāna and so on up to the concentration of neither perception nor non-perception, and says: in the desire realm one receives the pleasures of the five desires, in the form realm one receives the pleasure born of dhyāna, in the formless realm one receives the pleasure of quiescent extinction; these things too are impermanent, suffering, empty, and without self, marks of change, marks of exhaustion, marks of scattering, marks of separation, marks of cessation—why not, in this very body, take the fruit of srota-āpanna and so on up to the path of the pratyekabuddha; what use is it to receive suffering in birth and death seeking awakening? The two are in discord—this is a deed of Māra. This urging is cleverer still: first it praises the pleasures of heaven, then it takes them away with the contemplation of impermanence, and at the end it urges taking the small fruit—the first half is true speech, the second half is a forking road; using right contemplation as bait to lead into the two vehicles, the poison of what resembles the Dharma is deeper than that of what is not the Dharma.

13. Alone and unencumbered against leading a large following. The speaker of the Dharma is alone and unencumbered, free and unobstructed, and the hearer of the Dharma leads a large following; the two are in discord—this is a deed of Māra; the hearer of the Dharma is alone and unencumbered, and the speaker of the Dharma leads a large following—this too is a deed of Māra. Going alone and leading a following are each a way of conduct, with no higher or lower between them; when the two ways do not fit, staying together and going together are both hard, and the Dharma-connection then scatters.

14. ‘If you follow my wishes, I will give it to you.’ The speaker of the Dharma says: if you can follow my wishes, I will give you prajñā and let you write out, read, recite, expound, and rightly recollect it; if you do not follow my wishes, I will not give it to you. The two are in discord—this is a deed of Māra. The Dharma is made a means of coercion, and giving and receiving has become a trade—the authority of the teacher's position is used on 「隨我意」 tr. "follow my wishes", and the Dharma has already been cheapened beforehand.

15. Wishing to attend on him according to his wishes, and not being allowed. The hearer of the Dharma wishes to attend on him according to his wishes, and the speaker of the Dharma does not allow it; the two are in discord—this is a deed of Māra. The passage above is the teacher using the Dharma to control the disciple; this passage is the disciple able to follow the teacher's wishes in going and staying and in paying respects, and the teacher on the contrary not accepting it—only when the two directions are seen together does one see that the sūtra does not put the blame on one side alone.

16. Giving for the sake of wealth and gain, receiving for the sake of wealth and gain. The speaker of the Dharma, for the sake of obtaining wealth and gain, gives prajñā to be written out and upheld, and so on up to rightly recollected, and the hearer of the Dharma, because of this, does not wish to receive it from him; the two are in discord—this is a deed of Māra; the hearer of the Dharma, for the sake of wealth and gain, wishes to write out, read, recite, and expound the deep prajñā, and the speaker of the Dharma, because of this, does not wish to give it; the two are in discord—this is a deed of Māra. When the mind of wealth and gain is in the teacher, the disciple does not receive; when it is in the disciple, the teacher does not give—an impure condition cuts off the Dharma at both ends.

17. A place of danger to life in another region. The speaker of the Dharma wishes to go to a place of danger to life in another region, and the hearer of the Dharma does not wish to go along; the two are in discord—this is a deed of Māra; the hearer of the Dharma wishes to go to a place of danger to life, and the speaker of the Dharma does not wish to go—this too is a deed of Māra. On a journey to a dangerous land, the one who goes has the resolve of one who goes, and the one who does not go has the misgivings of one who does not go—the sūtra does not judge right and wrong; it only records what the Dharma loses where the two are in discord.

18. A place of famine, dear grain, and no water. The speaker of the Dharma wishes to go to a place of famine, dear grain, and no water in another region, and the hearer of the Dharma does not wish to go along—this is a deed of Māra; the hearer of the Dharma wishes to go and the speaker of the Dharma does not wish to go; the two are in discord—this is a deed of Māra. Beyond danger to life, one more item of hunger and want is set up: hardship in the means of life is likewise a condition of parting.

19. A prosperous and pleasant place—the thought of being rebuffed. The speaker of the Dharma wishes to go to a prosperous and pleasant place in another region, and the hearer of the Dharma wishes to follow him there; the speaker of the Dharma says: Good man! You are following me for the sake of gain and offerings; consider well for yourself whether you will get it or not get it, and let there be no regret afterwards! Because of this small condition the two are in discord. The hearer of the Dharma hears it and his mind is wearied, and he thinks: this is rebuffing me; he does not wish me to go along with him—and so he stops and does not go. This is a deed of Māra. One testing word from the teacher, one felt rebuff in the disciple—「以是少因緣故」 tr. "because of this small condition"; the sūtra specially marks the one word 「少」 tr. "small": what ruins the causes and conditions of prajñā is often not a great evil; it is this little bit.

20. The terrors of the wilderness. The speaker of the Dharma wishes to cross a wilderness—the terror of thieves, the terror of caṇḍālas, the terror of hunters, the terror of evil beasts and poisonous snakes—and the hearer of the Dharma wishes to follow him; the speaker of the Dharma says: Good man! What use is it for you to go there? There are many terrors there. The hearer of the Dharma hears it and understands that he does not wish to give prajñā to be written out and upheld, and so on up to rightly recollected, and his mind is wearied and he does not wish to follow him. Because of this small condition the two are in discord—this is a deed of Māra. The teacher truly speaks of the terrors, yet the disciple reads a rebuff into it—the words come out meaning this and are understood as that; the sickness of the 「少因緣」 tr. "small condition" appears again.

21. Paying respects to donors. The speaker of the Dharma has many donors and often goes to pay his respects; because of this he says to the hearer of the Dharma: I have matters to attend to; I must go there. The hearer of the Dharma understands his meaning and stops. The two are in discord—this is a deed of Māra. The listing of the sūtra passage is gathered up here: the condition of outer support turns into an obstruction to the inner transmission—donors are by nature people who protect the Dharma, yet the frequent comings and goings take away the time for speaking the Dharma.

22. A question arises: if one has no faith, how does one receive the Dharma from him? The treatise-author sets up a question: that a person writes out, upholds, reads, and recites prajñā but cannot practise it, so that he even breaks the precepts—that may be so; but if he has no faith, how does he receive the Dharma from him? This question goes straight to the sore point of the sūtra's first pair: since he has already received the Dharma from a teacher, how can it be said that he has no faith? The more concretely the question is asked, the more the answer below shows its measure.

23. Reading, reciting, and expounding widely for the sake of fame. Answer: This person does not have faith in prajñāpāramitā, that is, in ultimate emptiness; he reads, recites, and expounds widely only because he wishes to seek fame; just as the Buddha's disciples do not have faith in the scriptures of the outside paths, and yet also expound them for others. What "no faith" refers to is pinned down exactly by the treatise-author: it is not a lack of faith in the words and sentences; it is a lack of faith in ultimate emptiness—the mouth is expounding prajñā while the mind does not allow emptiness, just as the Buddha's disciples expound the books of the outside paths: however well they expound them, faith is not there.

24. Not wholly without faith. Again, 「不能深心信樂般若故名不信，非都不信」 tr. "because he cannot have faith in and delight in prajñā with a deep mind, he is called without faith; it is not that he has no faith at all". One sentence fills it out, so that people do not read it rigidly: when the sūtra speaks of having no faith, it speaks of a lack of faith and delight with a deep mind; it does not mean being wholly without a mind of faith—faith has shallow and deep; where the deep mind does not reach, in the giving and receiving of prajñā it is the same as having no faith.

25. A question arises: why can the teacher not give? The treatise-author asks again: by rule the disciple should make offerings to the teacher and present all that he has; why is it said that the teacher cannot give? The sūtra says that the speaker of the Dharma can give everything while the hearer of the Dharma begrudges and will not let go, and the reverse; the questioner seeks an explanation only of the one side of the teacher's begrudging—the teacher gives the Dharma to people; how could he come to begrudge?

26. The disciple suspects the teacher of deceit. Answer: The disciple thinks: the teacher cannot let go of a small thing, how much less let go of his body! Though he praises and expounds giving, this is deceit! Therefore they are not in accord. What the teacher's begrudging of wealth wounds is not wealth; it is the collapse of faith in the disciple's mind—to speak of giving and not be able to give: once the one thought 「欺誑」 tr. "deceit" arises, all the teacher's words and teachings are shaken.

27. The advance and retreat of the four kinds of offerings—a teacher who recites the sūtras, not a teacher who understands the meaning. The disciple wishes to make the four kinds of offerings to the teacher: the teacher may not receive them because he has few desires and is content, or may not receive them out of shame, as if he were selling the Dharma; or the teacher knows much and knows many people and lacks nothing, and on the contrary can supply the disciple, and the disciple thinks to himself 「人當謂我貪師衣食故受法」 tr. "people will say that I receive the Dharma because I crave the teacher's robes and food", or considers that his own virtue is too thin to consume what is given. The treatise-author rules: though this mind is good, because it cannot accomplish prajñāpāramitā, it too is a deed of Māra. He also explains the sūtra's meaning of a dull teacher: 「師鈍根者，是誦經師，非解義師。」 tr. "A teacher of dull faculties is a teacher who recites the sūtras, not a teacher who understands the meaning." The first half is where the eye of the whole chapter lies: not receiving, not consuming—each of these is a good mind—and yet a good mind that cannot accomplish prajñā is a deed of Māra; the judgement of a deed of Māra lies in the ruin of causes and conditions, not in the evil of the intention.

28. The twelve divisions of the scriptures, too, are a teacher who recites the sūtras. 「十二部經，亦是誦經師。」 tr. "The twelve divisions of the scriptures, too, are a teacher who recites the sūtras." The sūtra's pair 「說法者知十二部經次第義」 tr. "the speaker of the Dharma knows the order and meaning of the twelve divisions of the scriptures" the treatise-author gathers up in one sentence: one who knows the order and meaning but does not understand the deep meaning is still a teacher who recites the sūtras—versed in the forms of the teaching but not in the real meaning, he is of one kind with the dull of faculties.

29. Teacher and disciple each do not know the other's causes and conditions. The teacher who has the six perfections thinks: the disciple is a sinful person of dull faculties who cannot practise the six perfections and is attached to worldly affairs; he has only the name of disciple and nothing real—this teacher does not know that the disciple, after hearing prajñā, will later accomplish the great matter, and only because at present he has no six perfections, he will not teach and transform him. The disciple too thinks: the meaning of the six perfections I too can practise; the teacher can only speak it with his mouth and cannot cultivate and practise it—not knowing that the causes and conditions of the teacher's turned body will accomplish the great matter, and again not knowing that the teacher has separate causes and conditions of benefit through reading and reciting; therefore they are not in accord. The two 「不知」 tr. "not knowing" are the bones of this passage: the teacher does not know the disciple's later accomplishment, the disciple does not know the teacher's turned body—their sight reaches only what is present, each judges the other by present perception alone, and the Dharma-connection is then cut off by a double short-sightedness.

30. Straightforward faith clinging to dharmas, and practice with skilful means. The disciple with straightforward faith clings to wholesome dharmas; the teacher does not cling to dharmas and practises the six perfections with skilful means—at times praising the six perfections, at times, in order to cut off people's clinging, breaking up and scattering the six perfections; the disciple takes it that he does not deeply delight in the six perfections. When the disciple has skilful means, it is likewise. Praising and breaking up are both the skilful means of one teacher, but one with straightforward faith sees only the breaking up and suspects his mind—the real situation of the pair of having and not having the power of skilful means (passage 7) is here: one without skilful means not only cannot practise himself, he cannot even read the conduct of one who has skilful means.

31. A question arises: if the disciple has obtained dhāraṇī, how is the other a teacher? Question: If the disciple has obtained dhāraṇī and the teacher has no dhāraṇī, how is he a teacher? This question replays the reverse direction of the sūtra's eighth pair: when the power of the Dharma is in the disciple and not in the teacher, on what does the teacher's position stand?

32. Dhāraṇī are of many kinds. Answer: Dhāraṇī are of many kinds—there is the disciple who has obtained the dhāraṇī of hearing and retaining, who can retain and recite but cannot understand the meaning, and the teacher can explain it for him; the disciple may be able to obtain the meaning of the dhāraṇī of the real mark of all dharmas, yet be unable to read and recite in order; or the teacher has obtained the dhāraṇī of hearing and retaining, but 「未得大悲故，輕賤弟子，不能教導」 tr. "because he has not yet obtained great compassion, he belittles and despises the disciple and cannot teach and guide him". Under the one name there is hearing and retaining and there is the real mark, each with its strengths and shortcomings—teacher and disciple each have something gained and something lacking, and should rightly complement each other; but the one who has obtained hearing and retaining without great compassion on the contrary uses what he has gained to belittle others, and his strength becomes the root of discord.

33. A question arises: how is it that the teacher wishes to give the Dharma and the disciple does not wish to receive it? Question: That the disciple wishes to receive and uphold prajñā and the teacher does not give it—that may be so; how is it that the teacher wishes to give the Dharma and the disciple does not wish to receive it? A doubt that follows ordinary feeling: seeking the Dharma and not getting it is understandable; being given the Dharma and not receiving it is hard to understand.

34. Seeing the teacher's faults, he does not wish to receive. Answer: As answered before—because the disciple sees the teacher's faults, he does not wish to receive the Dharma. The thought of deceit in the earlier text (passage 26) is taken up again here: the disciple's refusal of the Dharma is mostly a refusal of this person first.

35. Because of wrong views and evil conditions he will not accept teaching. Again, the teacher wishes to teach and transform the person before him as a disciple, but this person, perhaps because of wrong views and evil causes and conditions, will not accept teaching. The reason for refusing the Dharma goes one layer deeper: it has nothing to do with the teacher's faults; it is the receiver's own wrong views and evil conditions that are the obstruction—of the causes of the two discords, some lie in the teacher, some lie in the disciple, and some lie in the disciple's former habits.

36. Where they are the same there is accord; the five hindrances and belittling each other. Again, among the dharmas that all beings practise, where they are the same there is accord; one person has left the five hindrances and one has not, and so they belittle each other: 「相輕故不和合。一切上法皆爾」 tr. "because they belittle each other they are not in accord. All higher dharmas are like this". This is the general principle the treatise-author puts forward for all the pairs of the chapter: where the dharma practised is the same there is accord, where it is not the same there is parting; and the pivot by which not being the same becomes an obstruction lies in the one thought of 「相輕」 tr. "belittling each other"—the higher belittles the lower, the lower resents the higher; so it is with the five hindrances, so it is with all higher dharmas.

37. Ruining his Great Vehicle and handing him the dharma of the Small Vehicle. Again, when one is writing out and reciting prajñā, and so on up to rightly recollecting it, one person rebukes with the three evil destinies, one person praises the gods; these matters are as answered before; though they cannot wholly break his good conduct, they ruin his Great Vehicle and hand him the dharma of the Small Vehicle. On the sūtra's two passages of those of the outside paths coming to urge (passages 11 and 12), the treatise-author judges in one phrase where the harm lies: it is not that they ruin his good; it is that they ruin his great—taking away the great and handing over the small is precisely the fixed form of this kind of deed of Māra.

38. Not delighting in crowds, he leaves the disciple. Again, the teacher has few desires and is content and does not delight in crowds, while the disciple has a large following; the teacher thinks: though the disciple is good and can be delivered, he brings many followers—the teacher clings deeply to wholesome dharmas and leaves the disciple. When the disciple is alone, it is likewise. The four Chinese characters 「深著善法」 tr. "clings deeply to wholesome dharmas" are set down with great weight: having few desires and being content is by nature a wholesome dharma, but clinging to it too deeply on the contrary becomes the cause and condition for leaving a person who could be delivered—clinging to wholesome dharmas can also cut off the Dharma-connection; the fineness of the deeds of Māra in this chapter here reaches the bottom.

39. Discord over following his wishes in going, staying, and paying respects. Again, the intent of the speaker of the Dharma is: the disciple should act according to my wishes, going or staying, paying respects at the proper times, and such things; the hearer of the Dharma only wishes to seek the benefit of the Dharma from him and cannot carry out these many matters—this is discord. Or at times the hearer of the Dharma follows his wishes in going, staying, and paying respects, and the speaker of the Dharma does not allow it, thinking: what use are these things? They diminish my merit! The hearer of the Dharma takes it to mean that he is belittled and despised, and they do not take pleasure in each other—this is discord. The same courtesy of paying respects: one teacher expects it and the disciple does not do it, another teacher refuses it and the disciple is hurt—courtesies have no fixed right and wrong in themselves; when two minds do not know each other, doing and not doing both become a rift.

40. The suspicion of selling the sūtras and the Dharma. Again, when the teacher wishes to give the Dharma for the sake of gain and offerings, the disciple's mind does not respect the teacher: how can he wish to sell the sūtras and the Dharma? The disciple too is like this: when he reads and recites prajñā for the sake of wealth, gain, and offerings, not with a pure mind, the teacher knows the disciple's mind is thus, and slights him and does not give it. Therefore they are not in accord. This is the explanation of the sūtra's pair of wealth and gain (passage 16): once the mind of wealth and gain arises, respect dies first—between teacher and disciple the Dharma is passed on by respect, and when respect is exhausted the road of the Dharma is cut off.

41. Sparing oneself on a perilous and difficult road. Again, the teacher wishes to go to another region, the road passing through peril and difficulty, and the disciple, because he spares his own life, cannot follow, thinking: 「我有身，然後求法」 tr. "I have a body, and only then do I seek the Dharma". When the disciple wishes to go, it is likewise. "I have a body, and only then do I seek the Dharma"—the thought of sparing oneself has its own reason, and the treatise-author records it as it is without adding reproach; yet which comes first, the body or the Dharma, is exactly the question the pair of the dangerous land (passage 17) leaves for the practitioner to answer for himself.

42. Famine, dear grain, and no water are likewise. 「飢餓、穀貴、無水處，亦如是。」 tr. "Places of famine, dear grain, and no water are likewise." One sentence carries the case over: hardship in the means of life is of the same class as danger to life; wherever the thought of sparing oneself reaches, all become conditions of the two discords.

43. A prosperous and pleasant place—a good mind stops the disciple. Again, the teacher wishes to go to a prosperous and pleasant place, and the disciple wishes to follow; either the teacher is ashamed and does not wish to take him along, or the disciple is used to pleasure and not fit to travel far, or the road is very long, or the teacher is familiar with that country while the disciple is not, and thinks the teacher's praise of it is not necessarily so, and at times suspects that the teacher is going because he craves food and drink. The teacher says to the disciple: what you have heard of what that land has is not necessarily all so; reckon it well for yourself! If you yourself wish to go, then go; do not go because of the wealth and prosperity, and when you get there and do not find things as you wished, do not blame me! He says again: you are going because you have heard that land is prosperous and pleasant, not for the sake of the Dharma; you need not follow me. 「師好心止弟子，不知是壞般若波羅蜜因緣。」 tr. "The teacher with a good mind stops the disciple, not knowing that this ruins the causes and conditions of prajñāpāramitā." Because the disciple respects and stands in awe of the teacher he cannot answer, and so he stops and does not go. Therefore they are not in accord. This passage is the deepest needle of the whole fascicle: every sentence the teacher speaks is a good mind—teaching the disciple to reckon for himself, guarding against the disciple's later regret, discerning whether he goes for the Dharma or for gain—and the treatise-author's verdict is only one sentence: a good mind, and yet it 「壞般若波羅蜜因緣」 tr. "ruins the causes and conditions of prajñāpāramitā". A deed of Māra does not pick out a good mind for exception.

44. A distant country with many difficulties stops the disciple. The teacher again wishes to go to a distant country where there are tigers, wolves, thieves, and robbers of every kind, and says to the disciple: there are many difficulties there; you need not go! The disciple hears it and stops. The teacher only knows that there are difficult things there and so stops the disciple, not knowing that this ruins the causes and conditions of prajñāpāramitā. One more example of the same type of sickness as the passage above: what is known is real (that land really has many difficulties), and what is ruined is also real (the causes and conditions of prajñā are really cut off)—true speech and a deed of Māra can after all lie in one utterance.

45. A question arises: if the distant country has many difficulties, why does he go himself? Question: If the distant country has many difficulties, why does he go himself? This presses on from the passage above: since the teacher knows that place has many difficulties and stops the disciple, why does he himself insist on going?

46. Accustomed to that land, he can protect himself. Answer: Someone says: because the teacher was born in that country, he is accustomed to that land and can protect himself. The first explanation: the teacher's going himself is not making light of his body; he was born in that land and has the strength to protect himself—in stopping the disciple, he protects what the disciple cannot protect.

47. He goes without sparing his life—how could he wrong another? Someone says: there are good teachers and scriptures there, and he goes without sparing his life. The teacher thinks: if I myself die, that is acceptable; how could I wrong another? Because of such causes and conditions he stops the disciple and does not let him go. The second explanation goes further: the teacher forgets his body for the Dharma, yet will not burden another with his own resolve to die—「我身自死則可，云何枉他」 tr. "if I myself die, that is acceptable; how could I wrong another", and stopping the disciple comes precisely from kindness; the mind of kindness and the cause and condition of ruining the Dharma lie in one and the same thought, and the paradox of this chapter here reaches its extreme.

48. Worldly ties with donors. The teacher has many acquaintances and donors, and his mind takes pleasure in and clings to them; the disciple has few desires and is content and does not cling to donors. The teacher always pays respects to the donors at the proper times; the disciple only wishes to seek the Dharma and does not like this. The teacher knows his mind and says: I have matters to attend to; I cannot speak the Dharma for you. The disciple hears it and is displeased: the teacher values worldly ties and does not value the Dharma. This is discord. The treatise section closes on the pair of donors (the explanation of passage 21): the teacher clings to outer support, the disciple seeks only the Dharma; with the one phrase 「不得為汝說法」 tr. "I cannot speak the Dharma for you", the teacher's place in the disciple's mind has already shifted—the seven Chinese characters 「貴俗緣，不貴於法」 tr. "values worldly ties and does not value the Dharma" are where, in the disciple's eyes, the way of teacher and disciple is cut off.

49. The evil Māra takes the form of a bhikṣu—the general heading. The sūtra turns to its second section: the evil Māra comes in the form and appearance of a bhikṣu and by skilful means ruins this prajñāpāramitā, so that it cannot be written out, upheld, read, recited, expounded, or rightly recollected. The deeds of Māra of the preceding section all borrowed the gap within teacher and disciple themselves; from here on, Māra comes onto the stage in person and conjures—the outer form is a bhikṣu, what he does is break prajñā, and the two discords enter the layer of ‘person and Dharma’ not coming into accord.

50. Subhūti asks its cause and condition. Subhūti said to the Buddha: World-Honored One! For what cause and condition does the evil Māra take the form and appearance of a bhikṣu and by skilful means ruin prajñā, so that it cannot be written out, upheld, and so on up to rightly recollected? The point of the question lies in 「何因緣」 tr. "for what cause and condition": why does Māra choose the form of a bhikṣu in particular? The answer below makes it plain of itself—that the form is credible is exactly the skilful means of ruin.

51. Disparaging the former sūtra and praising his own words—a bodhisattva who has not received the prediction falls into doubt. The Buddha said: the evil Māra comes in the form and appearance of a bhikṣu, ruins the minds of good men and good women, and makes them far from prajñā, saying: the sūtra I speak is prajñāpāramitā; this sūtra is not prajñāpāramitā. When he ruins the bhikṣus in this way, 「有未受記菩薩便墮疑」 tr. "a bodhisattva who has not received the prediction falls into doubt"; because he falls into doubt he does not write out the deep prajñā, does not receive it, does not uphold it, and so on up to not rightly recollecting it. They are in discord—this is a deed of Māra. The poison of Māra's words lies in swapping the true and the false: he does not disparage the name of prajñā, he only shifts the reality of prajñā—saying my sūtra is it and this sūtra is not; the one who has not received the prediction has a root of the path not yet firm, and at one doubt he retreats.

52. Urging realisation of the limit of reality. Again, the evil Māra, in the body of a bhikṣu, comes to where the bodhisattva is and speaks thus: if the bodhisattva practises prajñāpāramitā and realises the limit of reality, he attains the fruit of srota-āpanna and so on up to the fruit of arhat and the path of the pratyekabuddha! Because of this the two are in discord—this is a deed of Māra. This urging by an apparition runs in the same track as the praise of the gods by the one of the outside paths (passage 12) but is more refined: he does not urge giving up prajñā; on the contrary he urges realisation by means of prajñā—realising the limit of reality and taking the small fruit: the gate of practice is right, the landing is off; leading by right practice into a forked ending, this is the deed of Māra hardest of all to discern.

53. There are many deeds of Māra; one should be aware of them and keep far from them. Again, when the bodhisattva speaks this deep prajñā, many deeds of Māra arise, hindering prajñāpāramitā; these are deeds of Māra; the bodhisattva-mahāsattva should be aware of them, and having known them, keep far from them. Amid the listing the sūtra sets down a general rule: the remedy is only four Chinese characters—be aware, keep far; not to be aware is to fall, and to be aware and not keep far is also to fall.

54. What are the deeds of Māra and the hindrances? Subhūti said: World-Honored One! What are the deeds of Māra and the hindrances that the bodhisattva should be aware of, and having known them, keep far from? Following on from the general rule above he asks for their marks: one who wishes to keep far must first recognise the marks, hence this question, which draws out the section on what resembles the Dharma.

55. The deeds of Māra that are the semblance of the six perfections. The Buddha said: the deeds of Māra that are the semblance of prajñāpāramitā arise; the deeds of Māra that are the semblance of dhyānapāramitā, the semblance of vīryapāramitā, the semblance of kṣāntipāramitā, the semblance of śīlapāramitā, the semblance of dānapāramitā arise; the bodhisattva should be aware of them, and having known them, keep far from them. Each of the six perfections has its 「似」 tr. "semblance"—the marks of the deeds of Māra appear not on the opposite face but on the resembling face; the closer the resemblance, the greater the danger, and so they are specially marked as the first of what one should be aware of.

56. The sūtras that śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas should practise. Again, the sūtras that śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas should practise—of these the bodhisattva-mahāsattva should know that they are deeds of Māra and keep far from them. This sentence must be understood well: it does not mean that the sūtras of the two vehicles are Māra in themselves—it is said with regard to the bodhisattva's capacity: one who should practise the Great Vehicle being handed the two vehicles becomes a hindrance; its measure the treatise-author judges clearly below (passage 69).

57. Sūtras of the three gates of liberation given by skilful means to the bodhisattva. Again, 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 limbs of the eightfold noble path, the gates of liberation of emptiness, the signless, and non-action—using these dharmas one attains the fruit of srota-āpanna and so on up to the path of the pratyekabuddha—such sūtras as these the evil Māra, in the form and appearance of a bhikṣu, gives by skilful means to the bodhisattva-mahāsattva. Because this is discord, this is a deed of Māra. What is handed over is, of all things, emptiness and the limbs of the path—the dharmas are all the Buddha's Dharma, but used off-centre: when sūtras that use these dharmas solely to take the small fruit are handed to a bodhisattva, the Buddha's Dharma becomes a tool for leading away from the Buddha path; the three Chinese characters 「方便與」 tr. "gives by skilful means" portray to the full the skill with which Māra uses the true Dharma.

58. Māra makes the body of a Buddha, golden-coloured with a fathom of light. Again, the evil Māra makes the body of a Buddha, golden-coloured with a fathom of light, and comes to where the bodhisattva is; this bodhisattva craves and clings, and because of craving and clinging, sarvajñā is diminished. Because this is discord, this is a deed of Māra. The apparition rises to the level of the body of a Buddha: golden-coloured with a fathom of light, the marks and excellent features true to life—what the sūtra reproves lies not in the seeing but in the craving and clinging; in the moment of one clinging, 「耗減薩婆若」 tr. "sarvajñā is diminished", and what is damaged is one's share of omniscience.

59. Māra makes the body of a Buddha together with a Saṅgha of bhikṣus. Again, the evil Māra makes the body of a Buddha together with a Saṅgha of bhikṣus and comes before the bodhisattva; the bodhisattva gives rise to a mind of craving and clinging and thinks: in the world to come I too shall, like this, speak the Dharma for a Saṅgha of bhikṣus following me. Because he craves and clings to Māra's body, sarvajñā is diminished—this is a deed of Māra. This clinging is finer: it is not clinging to form and marks; it is clinging to the future thought ‘I shall be like this’—seeing another's adornment, he gives rise to a craving for an image of himself, and Māra uses the practitioner's very own vow as the hook.

60. Conjuring countless bodhisattvas practising the six perfections; the sifting by emptiness of self-nature. Again, the evil Māra conjures countless hundreds of thousands of myriads of koṭi of bodhisattvas practising dānapāramitā and so on up to prajñāpāramitā, and shows them to good men and good women; having seen them, they crave and cling, and because of craving and clinging sarvajñā is diminished—this is a deed of Māra. Why? In this deep prajñāpāramitā there is no form, there is no feeling, perception, constructions, or consciousness, and so on up to there is no anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi; in it there is no Buddha, no śrāvaka, no pratyekabuddha, no bodhisattva. Why? Because 「一切諸法自性空」 tr. "all dharmas are empty of self-nature". After the fourth type of apparition, the sūtra itself states the ground of sifting: in deep prajñā, form and so on up to awakening are all unfindable, and the Buddha and the persons of the three vehicles are also unfindable—emptiness of self-nature is the mirror that illumines and breaks through every apparition; in emptiness there is no mark to cling to, and whatever mark Māra displays loses its hook.

61. The simile of the precious things of Jambudvīpa and their many thieves. Again, when good men and good women write out this deep prajñā, receive, read, recite, expound, and rightly recollect it, many hindrances arise. It is like the precious things of Jambudvīpa—gold, silver, beryl, giant clam, agate, coral and such treasures—which have many difficulties and many thieves; just so, when one writes out this deep prajñā, and so on up to rightly recollecting it, many thieves and many hindrances arise. The whole listing of apparitions is gathered up in one simile: where the treasure is, there the thieves gather—that the hindrances are many is not a fault in the Dharma; it is precisely the proof that the Dharma is precious.

62. Subhūti describes the marks of the foolish person. Subhūti said to the Buddha, declaring and confirming his simile: Just so, World-Honored One! The precious things of Jambudvīpa have many thieves and many difficulties; when good men and good women write out this deep prajñā, and so on up to rightly recollecting it, it is also like this: many thieves, many hindrances, many deeds of Māra. These foolish people are sent by Māra and ruin it, making others far from it; these foolish people have little knowledge and little wisdom, and their minds do not delight in the great Dharma; therefore they themselves do not write out, do not receive, do not read, do not recite, do not rightly recollect, and do not cultivate and practise as it is spoken, and they also ruin others, so that they cannot write it out and so on up to cultivating and practising as it is spoken. The marks of those who make hindrances are fully described: sent by Māra, of little knowledge and little wisdom, not delighting in the great Dharma—not practising themselves and ruining others as well, harming both self and others.

63. The Buddha approves his words—the Buddha's power and the protection of the buddhas and bodhisattvas. The Buddha said: Just so! Just so! Those who have newly set their minds on the Great Vehicle, because they are sent by Māra, do not plant roots of goodness, do not make offerings to the buddhas, and do not follow good friends, do not write out the deep prajñā, and so on up to not rightly recollecting it, and make hindrances. If good men and good women can write out this deep prajñā, and so on up to rightly recollecting it, and the deeds of Māra do not arise, and they can fulfil dhyānapāramitā and so on up to dānapāramitā, the four foundations of mindfulness and so on up to omniscience of all kinds—know that it is by the Buddha's power; the immeasurable, boundless, asaṃkhyeya buddhas now present in the ten directions also help these people, and the avaivartika bodhisattva-mahāsattvas of the ten directions also guard, protect, and assist them. The close of the sūtra section sets both sides together: those who make hindrances have four causes (sent by Māra, without roots, not making offerings to the buddhas, not following good friends); those who can write out and uphold and in whom the deeds of Māra do not arise are, within, fulfilled in the many practices and, from outside, borne up by the Buddha's power and the protection of the buddhas and bodhisattvas—though the hindrances are many, the protection and upholding is greater.

64. Māra takes the form of a great śramaṇa. The treatise-author explains: Māra takes the form of a great śramaṇa, of weighty majesty and virtue, so that people accept his words; he holds many sūtra scrolls and is accompanied by a crowd of disciples, and says to the bhikṣus: prajñāpāramitā is as my sūtra says, the true and real word of the Buddha; what you heard before is not real, not spoken by the Buddha—rebuking and disparaging the former sūtra and in every way praising what he himself says. Bodhisattvas of dull faculties believe and accept these words and give rise to wrong view; those of keen faculties who have not yet received the prediction give rise to doubt. Why? 「諸佛畢竟空無相，智慧難解，故不和合。」 tr. "The ultimate emptiness and signlessness of the buddhas is hard to understand by wisdom, and so there is discord." The treatise-author fills out the costume of Māra's conjured bhikṣu: weighty majesty and virtue, many sūtra scrolls, a crowd of disciples—every credible mark complete; and those harmed differ: the dull come to wrong view, the keen who have not received the prediction come to doubt. That ultimate emptiness is hard to understand is exactly where doubt gets in.

65. Māra urges merit first and emptiness afterwards. Or at times Māra says to the bodhisattva: prajñāpāramitā and the three gates of liberation, spoken at length, are only emptiness; if you constantly train in this emptiness, you will realise it within it. And if you do not realise it, how will you become a Buddha and make the Buddha's Dharma? First practise giving, keeping the precepts, and the rest, and cultivate the merit of the thirty-two marks; when you sit at the seat of awakening, only then use emptiness. The bodhisattva either believes or doubts, and leaves prajñāpāramitā. Māra's words set up a dilemma: training in emptiness, one realises the limit of reality and falls into the small; not realising it, one has no way to become a Buddha—both ends blocked, forcing out the sequence ‘merit first and emptiness afterwards’; the words make sense, but their effect is only one: to put down prajñā right now. All who urge people that ‘at this time prajñā is not yet needed’ are descendants of these words.

66. A question arises: how is the semblance of the six perfections called a deed of Māra? Question: How is the semblance of the six perfections called a deed of Māra? The word 「似」 tr. "semblance" in the sūtra's section on what resembles the Dharma (passage 55) must have a definition, and so the treatise-author asks himself.

67. As said in the section on the semblance of prajñāpāramitā. Answer: As said in the section on the semblance of prajñāpāramitā. The treatise-author points back to his earlier explanation: the marks of the semblance dharmas have already been explained at length where this treatise explained the semblance of prajñā—here the heading is kept and not spread out again.

68. Practising the six perfections with a clinging mind is called the semblance. Again, 「以著心行六波羅蜜，是名似」 tr. "to practise the six perfections with a clinging mind is called the semblance". He adds one more meaning as the eye of this passage: the boundary between the semblance and the true lies not in the conduct but in the ground of the mind—the same giving and keeping of precepts, practised with a clinging mind, is the semblance; the semblance dharma is not some other dharma; it is what the true dharma looks like once it has been ruined by being practised with a clinging mind.

69. The sūtras of the two vehicles break the bodhisattva path. The sūtras of the śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas have no kindness and compassion, do not seek the Buddha path, and only wish to deliver oneself; 「雖是好事，破菩薩道，故名魔事」 tr. "though they are good things, they break the bodhisattva path, and so are called deeds of Māra". The treatise-author fills out the measure of the sūtra's judgement on the sūtras of the two vehicles (passage 56): delivering oneself is a good thing, and the sūtras are good sūtras—they are called deeds of Māra solely in the one sense that they break the bodhisattva path; taking away the great and handing over the small is Māra's use, and the Dharma itself is without fault.

70. A question arises: seeing the body of a Buddha, how is that called a deed of Māra? Question: If a bodhisattva sees the body of a Buddha, his mind of faith is pure; how is that called a deed of Māra? This question brings into the open the sharpest point of the sūtra: seeing a Buddha and giving rise to faith is merit of the ordinary course; why is it judged in the sūtra to be a deed of Māra?

71. Grasping at marks is all a deed of Māra—the simile of the heavenly maiden. Answer: 「一切煩惱、取相，皆是魔事。」 tr. "Every affliction and every grasping at marks is a deed of Māra." This small bodhisattva is not yet fit to see the body of a Buddha; Māra makes the wondrous form of a Buddha, the bodhisattva's mind clings, and he practises the path for the sake of this fine body; like a person not yet free of desire who sees the form of a heavenly maiden, is deeply stained with attachment, cannot bear to receive the pleasures of heaven, and dies in a swoon—therefore Māra's wish is fulfilled. The answer has two layers: the criterion is grasping at marks, not seeing a Buddha—to see and not cling is no fault, to cling is to enter the class of deeds of Māra; the meaning of the simile is one of station—one not yet free of desire cannot bear a heavenly maiden, a small bodhisattva cannot bear the body of a Buddha; it is not that the object has poison, it is that one's strength does not match the object.

72. The meaning of diminishment—deceived with a little gold out of a heavy treasure. Though the bodhisattva obtains a little pure mind, he loses the wisdom of the real mark; like a person holding a heavy treasure in his hand, whom someone deceives with a little gold, so that he lets go the treasure of great price and takes the cheap thing—「是名耗減」 tr. "this is called diminishment". The sūtra speaks again and again of sarvajñā being diminished, and here the treatise-author gives its definition: what is gained is a little pure mind (it is not that nothing at all is gained), what is lost is the wisdom of the real mark—exchanging the great for the small, the gain not making up for the loss, and so it is called diminishment; Māra need not make a person fall wholly; making him sell cheap is enough.

73. Māra makes the body of a Buddha leading bhikṣus—likewise as above. Māra makes the body of a Buddha leading bhikṣus, and shows many bodhisattvas practising the six perfections—likewise as above. The treatise-author refers the sūtra's third and fourth types of apparition (passages 59 and 60) back to the preceding explanation: their sickness is alike craving, clinging, and grasping at marks, their loss is alike diminishment, and they are not explained separately again.

74. The Buddha states the cause and condition—form and all dharmas are empty of self-nature. Here the Buddha states the cause and condition: 「色等一切法自性空。」 tr. "Form and all dharmas are empty of self-nature." The treatise-author specially marks the sūtra's sentence on emptiness of self-nature (passage 60) as the root of the sifting: that all four types of apparition can be seen through rests on this one sentence alone—in emptiness there is no form, no awakening, no Buddha, no Saṅgha, and craving and clinging lose their object.

75. The doubt of the assembly and the cause and condition of the simile of the precious things. Again, the assembly gave rise to a doubt: prajñāpāramitā is the unsurpassed Dharma and of much benefit; how is it that people hate and envy it? Therefore the Buddha spoke a simile: like the gold, silver, and such of Jambudvīpa, for the sake of which many enemies and many thieves come out, and not for tiles, stones, and such; prajñāpāramitā is the wondrous treasure in the storehouse of the Buddha's Dharma, subtle, wondrous, and very deep, which the slack and dull of faculties do not understand, and therefore they disparage it. 「魔以般若波羅蜜多令眾生入涅槃故，魔作怨賊。」 tr. "Because prajñāpāramitā leads many beings into nirvāṇa, Māra makes himself an enemy and a thief." The treatise-author brings to light what the simile of the precious things (passage 61) answers: the simile is precisely to resolve the one doubt ‘why the unsurpassed Dharma invites hatred’—thieves come out for gold, not for tiles and stones; and that Māra is the thief has one further cause of its own: prajñā leads many beings into nirvāṇa and takes away Māra's people, and so Māra is bound to be an enemy.

76. Subhūti describes the three marks, like the way of animals. Subhūti joyfully received the Buddha's teaching and described those he had spoken of who disparage and ruin prajñā: these are mad and foolish people, sent by Māra and not free, who because of little knowledge cannot penetrate the Buddha's intent; these people have no great mind and do not know the taste of the pure Dharma; they know only three marks—craving for tastes, lust, and ill will—like the way of animals, and they make hindrances to prajñāpāramitā. The words of declaring and confirming paint a portrait of those who make hindrances: it is not that their strength is great, it is that their knowledge is short—what they know is only three marks, and of the taste of the pure Dharma they understand nothing at all; the one simile ‘like the way of animals’ holds more pity than rebuke.

77. The Buddha approves his words—the protection of the Buddha's power. The Buddha approved what Subhūti had said and said to Subhūti: if the bodhisattva-mahāsattva writes out prajñā, and so on up to rightly recollecting it, and the deeds of Māra do not arise, know that it is the Buddha's power, and also the protection of the buddhas and bodhisattvas of the ten directions; and that he can fulfil the five perfections and so on up to omniscience of all kinds is also the power of the buddhas now present in the ten directions. It seals the sūtra's passage 63: that the deeds of Māra do not arise is not the work of the practitioner's strength alone—that the writing out and upholding can be accomplished, that the many practices can be fulfilled, all have behind them the protection of the Buddha's power and of the buddhas and bodhisattvas.

78. Māra is the lord of the desire realm. Why? 「魔是欲界主」 tr. "Māra is the lord of the desire realm", complete in worldly merit and wisdom; 「魔是世間生死根本」 tr. "Māra is the root of birth and death in the world". The gods of the form realm, though they have wrong views, constantly enter dhyāna and concentration, and so their minds are soft and they cannot ruin anything; in the formless realm, because there is no form, and because the mind is subtle and fine, they cannot do anything; the lower gods, because they have no strength or power, cannot ruin in this way. This Māra, by the power of the causes and conditions of karma in former lives, and also by the causes and conditions of his dwelling-place and of seizing what others have made, is the master of the thieves in it, and is named Māra. Such is the mark of this Māra: he ruins good things. The treatise-author explains why the one who makes difficulties is Māra alone: searching through the three realms—the form realm is soft, the formless realm has no form and a subtle mind, the lower gods have no strength—the one who can ruin and is willing to ruin is only the lord of the desire realm; his position is obtained through the power of karma in former lives and the causes and conditions of his dwelling-place, and his mark is precisely to ruin good things. Knowing where the enemy comes from, dread can be turned into clear discernment.

79. The buddhas protect those who have first aroused the mind—the simile of thieves surrounding a city. Because the bodhisattva who has first aroused the mind is thin in merit and wisdom, he spares his body; if the buddhas and bodhisattvas of the ten directions do not protect and assist him, he cannot succeed. Therefore the buddhas, the bodhisattvas, and the gods break up the deeds of Māra, and this bodhisattva is either aware of it or not aware; 「如賊繞城，大人守護，小兒不覺」 tr. "as when thieves surround a city, the grown men keep guard and the small children do not notice". The meaning of the simile is very warm: the beginner's mind is like a small child; the thieves really surround the city, and the small child plays at ease—not because there are no thieves, but because there are grown men; the practitioner who in ordinary days does not notice the deeds of Māra is not necessarily without Māra; most likely he is being protected.

80. The deeds of Māra briefly told—teacher and disciple should be in accord. The deeds of Māra, briefly told, are like this; told at length, they are immeasurable and boundless. Yet the Buddha's intent is only that the practitioner accomplish the great matter of prajñā, and therefore 「師徒宜應和合，一切惡事，不應計念」 tr. "teacher and disciple should be in accord, and should not take any evil thing to heart". The culmination of the whole fascicle: the deeds of Māra cannot be told to the end, yet the Buddha's intent is only one sentence—listing the two discords to the point of the immeasurable is not to teach people to see Māra everywhere; it is to teach people to set their minds on one place: accord. Not taking any evil thing to heart is exactly where accord takes hold.

Do Not Misread

Do not read 「兩不和合」 tr. "the two discords" as a case against one side. Every pair in the sūtra is stated both ways, forward and reverse—the speaker of the Dharma thus, the hearer of the Dharma thus too; the teacher has the teacher's failings, the disciple has the disciple's failings, and even when both sides have good minds the matter is still not accomplished. To blame one side and excuse the other is to lose the method by which this chapter sets out its text.

Do not read a deed of Māra as necessarily coming from an evil mind. The deepest point of this fascicle lies precisely in the good mind becoming an obstruction: not receiving offerings is having few desires, stopping the disciple from facing danger is compassion, 「我身自死則可，云何枉他」 tr. "if I myself die, that is acceptable; how could I wrong another" is giving up oneself—and the treatise-author judges them all alike: 「師好心止弟子，不知是壞般若波羅蜜因緣」 tr. "the teacher with a good mind stops the disciple, not knowing that this ruins the causes and conditions of prajñāpāramitā". The criterion of a deed of Māra is whether the causes and conditions of prajñā are ruined or not ruined, not whether the intention is good or evil.

Do not read the judgement that 「聲聞、辟支佛所應行經」 tr. "the sūtras that śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas should practise" are deeds of Māra as a depreciation of the scriptures of the two vehicles. The treatise-author says plainly 「雖是好事，破菩薩道，故名魔事」 tr. "though they are good things, they break the bodhisattva path, and so are called deeds of Māra"—the sūtras are good sūtras, delivering oneself is a good thing; they are called deeds of Māra only in the one sense of a bodhisattva who should practise the Great Vehicle being handed the Small Vehicle, the great taken away and the small handed over.

Do not read the judgement that Māra's making the body of a Buddha is a deed of Māra to mean that every seeing of a Buddha should be met with suspicion and fear. The treatise-author's criterion lies only in grasping at marks: 「一切煩惱、取相，皆是魔事」 tr. "every affliction and every grasping at marks is a deed of Māra"—the sickness is not in the mark seen but in the craving and clinging of the one who sees; the small bodhisattva is not yet fit to see and clings to it, like a person not yet free of desire before a heavenly maiden: his strength does not match the object; the object is not to blame.

Do not read 「是中無佛、無聲聞，無辟支佛、無菩薩」 tr. "in it there is no Buddha, no śrāvaka, no pratyekabuddha, no bodhisattva" as denying the Three Jewels. This is the right teaching of 「一切諸法自性空」 tr. "all dharmas are empty of self-nature", and the sūtra uses it precisely to sift out what Māra conjures—in emptiness there is no mark to cling to, and so golden colour and a fathom of light are not worth craving; it is a blade for breaking clinging, not words that ruin the Dharma.

Do not read Māra's urging ‘first practise giving and keeping the precepts, and only use emptiness when sitting at the seat of awakening’ as a reasonable sequence. These words press a person from both ends with ‘training in emptiness one falls into realisation; not realising, it is hard to become a Buddha’, and their effect is only to make a person put down prajñā right now; the six perfections and prajñā by nature go together, each guiding the other; all who urge people that ‘at this time prajñā is not yet needed’ belong to the stream of these words of Māra.

Bearing on Practice

Take the sūtra's list of pairs and examine yourself pair by pair. Go through it once in the teacher's position and once in the disciple's: have I begrudged the Dharma? Have I refused offerings? Have I coerced anyone with ‘follow my wishes’? Have I judged someone's later accomplishment by his present shortcomings? This chapter is a mirror that shows the heart of the relation between teacher and disciple; every pair can show which end one stands on oneself.

Take 「以是少因緣故」 tr. "because of this small condition" as a warning about small things. What ruins the causes and conditions of prajñā is often not a great evil; it is one testing word, one felt rebuff, one 「我有因緣，應往到彼」 tr. "I have matters to attend to; I must go there". When a rift arises between fellow practitioners, teachers, and friends, first ask: is this that 「少因緣」 tr. "small condition"?

Take ‘a good mind ruining the causes and conditions of prajñā’ to examine your own good intentions. Urging someone not to face danger, reckoning on someone's behalf, having few desires and refusing someone's offerings—at the moment good intention stirs, add one question: does this bring that person closer to prajñā, or further from prajñā? Use the Dharma as the scale; do not excuse yourself by your intentions.

Take 「著心行六波羅蜜，是名似」 tr. "to practise the six perfections with a clinging mind is called the semblance" to check the gates of practice. The same giving and keeping of precepts, practised with a clinging mind, becomes a semblance dharma. The place where, after doing good, one feels oneself to be remarkable is the sprout of the 「似」 tr. "semblance"—be aware, keep far: use these four Chinese characters on your own mind and conduct before using them on outer objects.

Take 「一切煩惱、取相，皆是魔事」 tr. "every affliction and every grasping at marks is a deed of Māra" to cure craving for exalted states. When in practice one sees light, sees forms, even sees a Buddha, remember the warning of golden colour and a fathom of light: there is no need for dread, and no room for clinging—illumine it with the one sentence 「一切諸法自性空」 tr. "all dharmas are empty of self-nature", and the mark of itself loses its hook. And remember the simile of the heavenly maiden to measure your own station: while your strength does not yet match the object, keeping far is better than savouring it.

Take 「如賊繞城，大人守護，小兒不覺」 tr. "as when thieves surround a city, the grown men keep guard and the small children do not notice" to give rise to a mind of repaying kindness and a mind of vigour. If on the road of practice one has not met great difficulty, it is not necessarily one's own power on the path; most likely it is the work of the buddhas' and bodhisattvas' protecting mindfulness—from this, do not rely on yourself; the thieves really surround the city—from this, do not be heedless.

Take 「師徒宜應和合，一切惡事，不應計念」 tr. "teacher and disciple should be in accord, and should not take any evil thing to heart" as the conduct that concludes each day. When there is something to reckon against fellow practitioners, teachers, and friends, remember that the whole fascicle ends with only this one sentence: the Buddha's intent is only that the practitioner accomplish the great matter of prajñā—matters are large and small; at the moment of reckoning, first ask which one is the great matter.

Further Resonances

What the Last Part carries on from the First Part is a single line that pushes 「兩不和合」 tr. "the two discords" from pairs of conduct to the edge of life and death, and then from the gap between teacher and disciple to Māra's appearing in person. The First Part set up its outline: wishing to write out against slackness, wishing to give against not receiving, wishing to stay against wishing to go, valuing offerings against having few desires and being content, taking up the dhūta practices against not taking them up—four sets of pairs stated both ways, forward and reverse; the simile of seeking fire with a fire-drill fixed the general principle: writing out prajñā is like drilling wood for fire—there is the drill and there is the base, the causes and conditions of two things, and only when teacher and disciple are of one mind and one undertaking is the writing out completed; the twelve dhūta practices were explained practice by practice in their causes and conditions, and closed with the Buddha's Dharma taking wisdom as its root and not putting suffering first. The Last Part first exhausts the items: faith and goodness, being able to give, receiving offerings, quickness of understanding, the twelve divisions of the scriptures, the six perfections, the power of skilful means, dhāraṇī, the wish to write out and uphold, the five hindrances—every one stated both ways; then those of the outside paths rebuke with the evil destinies and praise the gods, taking away the great and handing over the small; followers, following one's wishes, wealth and gain, danger to life, famine, prosperity and pleasure, the wilderness, donors—wherever human feeling reaches, there is a gap. The treatise-author explains them, and at every point shows the fineness of this chapter: no faith is no faith in ultimate emptiness and not wholly without faith; not receiving offerings—though this mind is good, because it cannot accomplish prajñā it too is a deed of Māra; teacher and disciple each do not know the causes and conditions of the other's turned body and later accomplishment; because they belittle each other they are not in accord, and all higher dharmas are like this; the teacher with a good mind stops the disciple, not knowing that this ruins the causes and conditions of prajñā. When the evil Māra appears in person, conjuring a bhikṣu to disparage the former sūtra and urge realisation of the limit of reality, conjuring the body of a Buddha, a Buddha with a Saṅgha, and countless bodhisattvas, so that by craving and clinging sarvajñā is diminished—the sūtra takes the one sentence ‘all dharmas are empty of self-nature’ as the blade of sifting, and the treatise-author takes the one sentence ‘grasping at marks is all a deed of Māra’ as the cord of the criterion, explains diminishment by being deceived with a little gold out of a heavy treasure, and explains where the one who makes difficulties comes from by Māra's being the lord of the desire realm and the root of birth and death. Last of all, the simile of the precious things with their many thieves fully answers the doubt of why the unsurpassed Dharma invites hatred—thieves come out for gold, not for tiles and stones; and the protection of the Buddha's power and of the buddhas and bodhisattvas of the ten directions is like grown men guarding a city, while the small children do not notice. From the head of the chapter to its end, the four Chinese characters 「兩不和合」 tr. "the two discords" here reach their full weight: the First Part says that the conditions of accord are like the drill and the base, neither of which can be lacking; the Last Part says that the gaps of discord enter everywhere, however fine, and Māra rides on them in turn—yet where the Buddha's intent comes back to is not in counting Māra but in urging accord: teacher and disciple should be in accord, and should not take any evil thing to heart; the two discords, spoken of to their very end, are only for the sake of accomplishing one accord.

Further Resonances

The vein of meaning in the chapter "The Two Discords" has something it inherits before it and something it opens after it. What it inherits is the preceding chapter, "The Deeds of Māra": at that chapter's opening Subhūti asks 「云何善男子、善女人，求於佛道，生諸留難？」 tr. "How is it that good men and good women, seeking the Buddha path, give rise to hindrances?", and the Buddha then speaks at length of the marks of hindrance—what that chapter lists mostly arises within the practitioner himself: clinging to eloquence; in writing out, the moment when 「若國土念起、聚落念起、城邑念起」 tr. "if thoughts of lands arise, thoughts of villages arise, thoughts of towns arise" and 「惡魔復益其念」 tr. "the evil Māra further increases these thoughts"; craving and clinging to gain and offerings; the mind turning aside for the deep sūtras of the śrāvakas; and at its close that chapter also uses the simile of ghee and poison to judge between the road of the Great and the road of the Small—「譬如人以酥和毒，毒勢則歇，不能害人」 tr. "It is like a person who mixes poison with ghee: the force of the poison then subsides and cannot harm anyone"; prajñā is like the ghee, and the other sūtras are like taking the poison alone. This chapter follows precisely on from this and goes one layer further: the hindrances within one person's mind having been spoken of, it then speaks of the hindrances between two people—its opening is at once 「聽法人欲書、持般若波羅蜜，讀、誦、問義、正憶念；說法人懈墮，不欲為說」 tr. "The hearer of the Dharma wishes to write out and uphold prajñāpāramitā, to read, recite, ask its meaning, and rightly recollect it; the speaker of the Dharma is slack and does not wish to speak it for him," the two parties, speaker and hearer, set against each other round after round, and the closing sentence the same each time: 「兩不和合，不得書般若波羅蜜」 tr. "The two are not in accord, and they cannot write out prajñāpāramitā." The preceding chapter says the thief lies in the rising of thoughts; this chapter says the thief is born in the gap; once the gaps have all been told, Māra then appears in his own form—at the chapter's end the evil Māra takes the form of a bhikṣu, makes the body of a Buddha, makes bodhisattvas, all entering by the gap between the two minds. As for what it opens, the chapter already shows its first signs: it closes on the Buddha's power—「若菩薩摩訶薩書般若乃至正憶念，魔事不起，當知是佛力，亦是十方諸佛及諸菩薩所擁護」 tr. "If the bodhisattva-mahāsattva writes out prajñā and so on up to rightly recollecting it, and the deeds of Māra do not arise, know that it is by the Buddha's power, and is also the guarding and protection of the buddhas of the ten directions and of the bodhisattvas"; why do the buddhas guard this one sūtra so? The next chapter, "The Mother of the Buddhas," answers at its very opening, taking mother and sons as its simile—「譬如母人有子若五、若十」 tr. "It is like a mother who has sons, whether five, or ten": the sons diligently seek her cure and constantly seek things of comfort with which to make offerings to their mother—「所以者何？生育我等，示我世間」 tr. "Why is this? She gave us birth and raised us; she showed us the world"; 「佛常以佛眼視是深般若波羅蜜」 tr. "The Buddha constantly regards this deep prajñāpāramitā with the Buddha-eye," because 「是深般若波羅蜜能生諸佛，能與諸佛一切智，能示世間相」 tr. "this deep prajñāpāramitā can give birth to the buddhas, can give the buddhas omniscience, and can show the mark of the world." This chapter speaks of the protection; the next chapter speaks of the reason for the protection: the Buddha's guarding of prajñā is not the guarding of a volume of scripture; it is a son's guarding of his mother—and the vein of meaning flows on downward from this.

Among the later ancient masters who read this chapter, what they preserved on the matter of the chapter's name is worth recording. This treatise's base text heads it 「兩不和合品」 tr. "The Two Discords"; the fascicle heading of the Palace edition reads otherwise, 「兩過品」 tr. "The Two Faults," and the Ming edition moreover cites beneath the title the sūtra-side variant name, saying 「經作兩不和合過品」 tr. "the sūtra has ‘The Faults of the Two Discords’"; the title numbering of the Shōgozō manuscript, the Shōgozō B, and the Ishiyama-dera manuscript differs from the base text by one step, consistent with the several preceding chapters, and this is recorded as it is. In the transmitted text of the great sūtra that it explains, this chapter's title reads precisely 「兩過品第四十七」 tr. "Chapter Forty-seven, The Two Faults"; the one house that composed a sectional commentary on the great sūtra it explains, laying the greatest weight on the opening and closing of the outline, likewise marks this chapter in its outline as 「兩過品第四十七」 tr. "Chapter Forty-seven, The Two Faults," while its commentary text, in explaining the passage on the deeds of Māra in the preceding chapter, already uses of its own accord the four characters 「兩不和合」 tr. "the two discords" to describe the disharmony of teacher and disciple in giving and receiving—the two names appear side by side in the one book, from which one can know that in the eyes of the ancient masters the two titles never stood in each other's way. There is another ancient master who once composed a commentary on this treatise itself; his work survives today in incomplete fascicles, and this chapter is not among those that survive—this is recorded as it is, without forcing a connection; and in all the commentaries and records on calming and contemplation of the Tiantai line that could be searched, although the heading 「十二頭陀」 tr. "the twelve dhūta practices" appears again and again, it is always their own general explanation of meditation methods and the practice of the precepts, and nowhere is this chapter's title found cited by name, nor the text of this chapter quoted—the ancient masters' mirroring of this chapter is thinner than for the several preceding chapters, and this too is recorded as it is. The meanings of the two names each have their own tie: the name 「兩過」 tr. "the two faults" picks out the persons—speaker and hearer, the two parties, each at fault toward the other; the name 「兩不和合」 tr. "the two discords" picks out the matter—taking precisely the closing sentence of the sūtra text in round after round, 「兩不和合，不得書般若波羅蜜」 tr. "The two are not in accord, and they cannot write out prajñāpāramitā." One reproaches the persons, the other points to the matter; both are recorded without judgement; this edition follows the base text and reads "The Two Discords."

Bringing this whole line of further resonances back to this chapter, the divergence in the chapter's name that the ancient masters recorded precisely illuminates the depths of the chapter's meaning: if one reads it as 「兩過」 tr. "the two faults," it seems one must always find out who is wrong—yet the few most crucial pairings in the chapter are exactly those in which neither end is at fault: not taking up the dhūta practices—「不能行，不犯戒」 tr. "if one cannot practise them, one does not break the precepts"; not receiving offerings—「此心雖好」 tr. "though this mind is good"; holding each other back from a dangerous road—it is 「師好心止弟子」 tr. "the teacher, with a good mind, holds back the disciple." A good mind meets a good mind, and still prajñā does not get written out—this is exactly where this chapter goes one layer deeper than the preceding one: hindrance need not arise from evil; the sentence 「不知是壞般若波羅蜜因緣」 tr. "not knowing that this is a cause and condition for ruining prajñāpāramitā" the treatise-author says twice over, in the two rounds of the prosperous and pleasant land and of the wilderness, making plain precisely that the most dangerous of the deeds of Māra is not knowing it oneself. If one reads it as 「兩不和合」 tr. "the two discords," then the criterion is plain of itself: 「一切有為法，因緣和合故生，眾緣離則無」 tr. "Every conditioned dharma arises because causes and conditions come together; when the conditions part, it is not"—writing out and upholding prajñā is a dharma born of causes and conditions; 「有鑽、有母，二事因緣得火」 tr. "there is the drill and there is the base, and by the causes and conditions of the two things the fire is got"—lack one condition and there is no fire, and where there is no fire one need not ask whose fault it is, the drill's or the base's. So the whole chapter judges the deeds of Māra by a single measure: if prajñā is accomplished, it is not a deed of Māra; if prajñā is not accomplished, 「不能成般若波羅蜜故，亦是魔事」 tr. "because it cannot accomplish prajñāpāramitā, this too is a deed of Māra"—whether the mind is good or not is another matter. And the loss at either end has its remedy, which the chapter has long since given: 「若自失，當具足；若弟子失，當教令得」 tr. "If he himself is lacking, he should make it complete; if the disciple is lacking, he should teach him and cause him to obtain it."

Therefore what the chapter "The Two Discords" finally leaves behind is a way of asking the road that can be used again and again: when I receive the Dharma from a teacher and a rift of dislike arises in my mind, I remember that 「弟子見師有過故，不欲受法」 tr. "because the disciple sees that the teacher has faults, he does not wish to receive the Dharma" is precisely one of the deeds of Māra listed in the chapter—the teacher's fault is not necessarily a reason for me to leave the Dharma; 「少多聽、受、讀、誦，不能究竟成就故，但名聽法」 tr. "hearing, receiving, reading, and reciting a little, more or less, he cannot accomplish it to the end, and so it is only called hearing the Dharma"—leaving the teacher is easy; accomplishing is hard; when I speak the Dharma for others and wish to pick and choose my disciples, I remember 「是師不知弟子聞般若已，後成大事，但以現前無六波羅蜜，不肯教化」 tr. "this teacher does not know that the disciple, having heard prajñā, will later accomplish the great matter, and only because at present he lacks the six perfections, is unwilling to teach and transform him"—dullness in the present is not the measure of the days to come; when I examine my own mind and find no fault, I remember 「此心雖好，不能成般若波羅蜜故，亦是魔事」 tr. "though this mind is good, because it cannot accomplish prajñāpāramitā, this too is a deed of Māra"—precisely where I ask my heart and find no shame, I must ask one question more: has prajñā been accomplished or not; when I see the marks and excellences and majestic virtue and craving and clinging arise in my mind, I remember 「一切煩惱、取相，皆是魔事」 tr. "every affliction and every grasping at marks is a deed of Māra"; Māra can take the form of a bhikṣu, make the body of a Buddha, make bodhisattvas—「捨大價寶而取賤物，是名耗減」 tr. "he lets go the treasure of great price and takes the cheap thing—this is called diminishment"; when I meet hindrances rising on all sides and doubt that my strength is thin, I remember 「當知佛力故」 tr. "know that it is by the Buddha's power"—「如賊繞城，大人守護，小兒不覺」 tr. "as when thieves surround a city, the grown men keep guard and the small children do not notice": the protection does not wait for one's noticing before it is there. Answer these few questions well in every round of practice, and one knows why the last sentence of the whole chapter is so plain: 「師徒宜應和合，一切惡事，不應計念」 tr. "teacher and disciple should be in accord, and should not take any evil thing to heart"—prajñā is like fire, which burns only with two conditions; hold fast to this one condition of accord, and in all the rest Māra can do nothing.