金剛般若波羅蜜經 · 名相Glossary

Wisdom gone to the far shore. The Buddha-wisdom this sūtra expounds, not the wisdom of the two vehicles (Jizang); Dharmagupta renders it "wisdom-far-shore-arriving."

The hardest, sharpest thing. Asaṅga's naming-gloss: "fine and firm — fine because it is the cause of wisdom, firm because it cannot be broken, cutting as the diamond cuts where it cuts"; figures prajñā severing the twofold grasping at self and dharmas.

Able to sever every doubt and clinging. With the diamond's sharpness it cuts away all grasping at self and dharmas — hence "diamond-cutter prajñā."

The recurrent formula "is X · is not X · is called X." Read through Yogācāra as the turning of the three natures: "is X" = the other-dependent (paratantra); "is not X" = removing the wholly-imagined (parikalpita); "is called X" = establishing the perfectly-accomplished (pariniṣpanna).

The master-thesis for dissolving marks: "whatever bears a mark is illusory." Kuiji's third sense of "illusory" = "the wholly-imagined is illusory; the other-dependent and perfectly-accomplished are real"; to see marks as non-marks is to see the Tathāgata.

The first-half formula of the turning-of-the-basis: give rise to mind dwelling nowhere — abandon what is grasped by consciousness and rest on the non-discriminative. Kuiji: "realize non-dwelling through wisdom"; "cultivate the pure-wisdom, pure-cognition, pure mind."

Not dwelling — on objects, on the six dusts, on the marks of giver and gift. Practice that abandons what consciousness grasps and rests on non-discrimination; Xuanzang: "dwelling on nothing at all."

The last age, when the true Dharma is about to fade — yet even then those who keep the precepts and cultivate merit can give rise to true faith at these phrases.

The raft-simile: even the Dharma is to be let go, still more the non-Dharma. Xuanzang and Yijing read it as "veiled intent"; Vasubandhu: "on a single raft there is taking and leaving, hence 'veiled.'"

The smallest unit of upholding and expounding. Kuiji: "wherever the doctrine of this teaching is complete in sense, that is one verse."

The three natures: other-dependent, wholly-imagined, perfectly-accomplished. The 即非 formula mirrors their turning — the structural backbone of reading the sūtra "with Yogācāra as mirror."

The other-dependent nature — phenomena and events arising through conditions, vivid yet without self-nature. The "is X" member: the conditioned gift, mind, and mark are all dependently illusory.

The wholly-imagined nature — the real self-nature falsely superimposed by discrimination on other-dependent phenomena. The "is not X" member removes it; Kuiji: "ordinary feeling falsely grasps self and dharmas as existent."

The perfectly-accomplished nature — the suchness disclosed once grasping is removed. The "is called X" member establishes it; Kuiji: "the wise understand the perfectly-accomplished to be existent"; "the principle of twofold no-self is truly real."

The turning of the basis — turning from the defiled, consciousness-grasped basis to the non-discriminative, pure one. "Giving rise to mind without dwelling," "purifying karmic hindrance," "liberating with none liberated" are all its enactments.

The two hindrances: afflictive and cognitive. The first half removes the four marks (self-emptiness), severing the afflictive; the latter half removes the four views (dharma-emptiness), severing the cognitive. Kuiji: "when both hindrances are exhausted, this is true expiation."

The afflictive hindrance — the defilement of self-grasping that blocks nirvāṇa. What the 即非 of the first half (§§1–16) counters, breaking the four marks into self-emptiness.

The cognitive hindrance — the dharma-grasping that blocks bodhi. What the 即非 of the latter half (from §17) counters, breaking the four views into dharma-emptiness.

The twofold no-self: of person and of dharma. The pivot, §17, "penetrating no-self and dharma," realizes both emptinesses and the principle of no-self.

No self in the person: no abiding sovereign self is found in the person; disclosed by breaking the four marks.

No self in dharmas: the dharmas ordinary feeling grasps have no real self-nature; disclosed by breaking the four views.

The emptiness of dharmas — dharmas without self-nature. The domain the latter-half 即非 addresses, countering the cognitive hindrance.

The extreme of superimposition — falsely grasping a real self-nature in other-dependent phenomena. Asaṅga: "to grasp self-nature in dharmas-as-worded is the extreme of superimposition."

The extreme of denial — denying the perfectly-accomplished suchness as void nothing. The nihilist view is this extreme; Asaṅga: "to hold as non-existent in the matter of dharma-no-self is the extreme of denial."

The middle way, free of both superimposition and denial. Kuiji: "the dual contemplation of being and emptiness completes the middle way" — removing the wholly-imagined (the gate of emptiness) while keeping the other-dependent and perfectly-accomplished (the storehouse of being).

Consciousness-only: all dharmas are manifestations of consciousness. Vasubandhu marks the pure land directly — "wisdom permeated, consciousness-only penetrated"; the cloud-simile resolves to the ālaya. This sūtra takes it as a mirror.

The eighth consciousness, which at the seed-stage stores all seeds and is the basis of all dharmas. Assigned to the cloud-simile among the nine; Bodhiruci renders it "ālīya."

Non-discriminative wisdom, the supramundane knowing free of conceptual discrimination — the turning-of-the-basis itself. Upholding the sūtra gives rise to it, and one will surely become a Buddha.

The forbearance of the non-arising of dharmas — the patient realization, born unborn, that all dharmas lack self. Kuiji's three forbearances align with the three natures: original non-arising (wholly-imagined) · natural non-arising (other-dependent) · the non-arising of affliction and suffering (perfectly-accomplished).

The Dharma-body — the unconditioned suchness-body, the wisdom-mark body, the ultimate substance; realized by wisdom alone, no object of consciousness. Kuiji: "the Dharma-body is like space — formless, yet in the mirror-wisdom it manifests the reward- and transformation-bodies."

The reward / enjoyment body. Vasubandhu reads "Mount Sumeru" as a figure for the enjoyment-body, the Dharma-king body.

The transformation-body — coming and going to teach and benefit beings as occasion requires. Vasubandhu: "coming and going is the transformation-body Buddha; the Tathāgata is ever unmoved"; it teaches yet never declares itself the teacher.

The Buddha's physical marks — the conditioned body of the three marks (arising, abiding, ceasing). "Not the bodily mark" — apart from the three marks is the Dharma-body Tathāgata (Kuiji).

Arising, abiding, ceasing — the three marks of conditioned dharmas. Vasubandhu: "the three marks being of distinct substance, apart from them is the Tathāgata."

The thirty-two marks of a great being — the transformation-body's marks, not the Dharma-body's. A wheel-turning king bears them too, so the Buddha cannot be fixed by marks; Asaṅga: "the marks are the self-nature of form."

The eighty secondary marks, the body of fine features. Vasubandhu: "the form-body comprises the eighty fine features and thirty-two marks."

The fully-featured form-body — the reward- and transformation-body of fine features, not the Dharma-nature form-body. Yijing: "form-body means the matter of fine features."

"The Tathāgata is the suchness of all dharmas" — suchness, the perfectly-accomplished. Named at the pivot §17; §29 echoes it, "the Tathāgata is the designation of suchness."

Suchness — the perfectly-accomplished reality that abides ever thus, unchanging. Yijing: "what is called dharma-nature is suchness."

Designation, synonym. Xuanzang: "the Tathāgata is the designation of the real, of suchness."

The revealing cause — the sūtra is the revealing cause of the realized Dharma, disclosing the Dharma-body. Vasubandhu: "the revealing cause discloses the Dharma-body."

The producing cause — bringing forth the transformation-body. Vasubandhu: "the producing cause completes the transformation-body."

An outflow — the teaching that flows from the Buddhas' non-discriminative wisdom and suchness. Vasubandhu: "this teaching is the very outflow-nature of what the Buddhas have realized."

Dharma-body relic — the sūtra is the depository of the Buddhas' true Dharma-body, unlike the relics of a single transformation-Buddha's pulverized body (Kuiji).

Nirvāṇa without remainder; Xuanzang: "the realm of subtle nirvāṇa without remaining basis." The masters judge it not the Hīnayāna extinction of the body but the Mahāyāna fullness of exhausted bonds and perfectly-accomplished virtue.

The non-abiding nirvāṇa — dwelling in neither saṃsāra nor nirvāṇa. Asaṅga: "not cutting off the reflection-dharmas of birth-and-death, freely acting to benefit beings within nirvāṇa."

The two awakenings: Dharma-body bodhi (disclosed by severing the cognitive hindrance) and reward-body bodhi (disclosed by severing the afflictive). Kuiji, after Asaṅga: "severing the two hindrances, one gains the two awakenings."

An awakening being, a great being. Asaṅga glosses the "seven greatnesses."

Unsurpassed, perfect, complete awakening. Kuiji: "unsurpassed awakening is Dharma-body bodhi; perfect awakening is reward-body bodhi."

Giving rise to the mind of unsurpassed awakening. Zhiyi: "rendered as the awakening of unsurpassed right and universal knowing."

Where one should abide. Asaṅga: "should abide — that is, by aspiration."

Subduing the mind — quelling scattered discrimination. Asaṅga: "quelling distraction"; "non-discriminative samādhi."

Giving, dāna. Asaṅga: "the six pāramitās, the first comprising all giving"; Kuiji: "the perfection of giving comprises the six."

The three spheres: gift, recipient, giver. Their phenomenal reality is the other-dependent; not grasping them as real removes the wholly-imagined; all three emptied, with merit like space, establishes the perfectly-accomplished.

The perfection of patience (kṣānti). With no self-mark, who is there to be angered — patience as the practice of departing from marks; Vasubandhu: "the virtue of the far shore is immeasurable."

The foremost perfection, attained by the Buddha alone. Jizang: "in ultimate truth the 'foremost' is removed; in conventional truth it is provisionally named foremost."

The four foundations of mindfulness: body, feeling, mind, dharmas. Vasubandhu: "abiding in the four foundations is true abiding."

Wholesome dharmas — the wholesome dharmas of seeking bodhi, the uncontaminated, the conducive-to-uncontaminated. Cultivating all wholesome dharmas one attains bodhi; "is not" the contaminated, arising-and-ceasing wholesome.

The five eyes: fleshly, divine, wisdom, dharma, Buddha. With the five eyes the Buddha sees the deluded variety of beings' minds.

To shoulder bodhi — to uphold the wondrous Dharma is to bear great bodhi. Vasubandhu: "one who upholds the Dharma shoulders great bodhi"; the very cause of bodhi, not merely a meritorious act.

Sovereignty in merit — one of the six masteries of the Buddha-stage: practicing giving for prajñā's sake, the meritorious dharmas are fulfilled (Asaṅga, Kuiji).

The five excellences of upholding the sūtra: the Tathāgata's mindful nearness · gathering merit · praise of the Dharma and of practice · the offerings of devas and others · expiation of sin (Asaṅga).

The views of self, person, being, life-span — the grasping views, distinct from the four marks of the first half. What the latter half breaks — dharma-grasping, the cognitive hindrance.

Grasping a real self. Vasubandhu: "to grasp 'I liberate' is a fault"; grasping that one liberates beings is a grasping at self.

Grasping dharmas as real. Yijing: "if one gives rise to dharma-grasping, the fault is the same as self-grasping" — to grasp that there are real beings to liberate is dharma-grasping, of the cognitive hindrance.

The manifold minds, the deluded variety of the six consciousnesses. "Are not minds" — removing their deluded grasping, not denying mind.

The minds of the three times are unobtainable: past and future because gone or not-yet; present because of deluded discrimination. Yijing: "the present is the wholly-imagined nature, non-existent."

The deluded continuity of mind. Vasubandhu: "non-dwelling indicates that deluded continuity."

The subtle hindrance — the two views of self and dharma, of the cognitive hindrance. Vasubandhu: "this is the subtle hindrance, departed from when one sees suchness."

View-grasping. Yijing: "these two views of self and dharma are view-grasping."

The mark of dharma, provisionally said; "is not" the truly-grasped mark of dharma. Not giving rise to dharma-marks = not raising the wholly-imagined real-grasping, so that suchness-wisdom appears.

The mark of a unitary aggregate, the grasping of many particles as one. Kuiji: "grasping the five aggregates of one body together as self"; Asaṅga: "unitary grasping and differentiated grasping."

The mark of annihilation — the nihilist view that denies dharmas as nothing, the extreme of denial. The sūtra "does not teach annihilation of dharmas," establishing the middle way of neither-cut-off-nor-permanent.

The true Dharma-realm, equal and undifferentiated, neither increasing nor decreasing. Vasubandhu: "the Dharma-realm neither increases nor decreases; pure, equal, its own mark."

Overweening pride — taking the unrealized as realized. The thought "I have gained the fruit" falls into this pride.

Stream-enterer. Called "entering the stream" yet entering nothing; Xuanzang renders it "stream-entered," Jizang: "going against the stream of birth-and-death, entering the stream of the path."

Once-returner. Called "once coming and going" yet in truth no coming and going.

Non-returner. Called "not coming" yet in truth no coming.

Worthy one — "unattached," "non-arising," "worthy of offerings." Zhiyi: "rendered 'unattached,' also 'non-arising'… gaining the two knowledges of exhaustion and non-arising."

The samādhi of non-contention, free of both the afflictive hindrance and the hindrance of concentration. Vasubandhu: "free of the afflictive hindrance and the samādhi-hindrance."

"All the noble and worthy differ by the unconditioned dharma." Xuanzang: "noble persons."

The unconditioned — suchness, what the perfectly-accomplished discloses. The noble ones' distinctions and merit's excellence all take unconditioned prajñā as their substance.

Dīpaṃkara, the Buddha of the past prediction. At Dīpaṃkara's place there was in truth no dharma by which bodhi was attained.

The foolish ordinary being. "Is not an ordinary being" — not giving rise to noble dharmas, hence "non-arising," yet convertible into a Buddha.

"Thus have I heard" — the head of the certifying preface. The masters read it as a formula inspiring faith, not merely a historiographic frame.

The Blessed One. Xuanzang transliterates "bhagavān."

The city where the sūtra was spoken. Xuanzang transliterates "Śrāvastī"; Dharmagupta renders it by sense, "the heard-of."

Jeta Grove, Anāthapiṇḍada's park. Dharmagupta's sense-rendering "the friendless" = Anāthapiṇḍada.

Alms-gathering — robing, bowl in hand, begging in order: the everyday as the other-dependent stream of conditions; prajñā is already in the going, standing, sitting, lying (teaching by demonstration).

Monk, bhikṣu. Xuanzang transliterates "bhikṣu."

The elder Subhūti — "of long life," "of pure life." Xuanzang renders by sense "Good Manifestation"; Dharmagupta and Yijing, "Good Reality," "Wondrous Birth."

The seven treasures, the wealth-gift of the comparison — figuring contaminated, finite merit, to set off the uncontaminated merit of upholding the sūtra.

The sands of the Ganges, a figure for vast number. Xuanzang renders "the Ganges"; Kuiji: "a stretch forty li broad and deep counts as one Ganges-sands."

Incalculable. Asaṅga: "'measureless' exceeds comparison; 'incalculable' shows the many."

A nayuta, a great number — the count of Buddhas served before Dīpaṃkara.

A koṭi, a great number (a hundred lakhs).

A kalā, a name for a minute fraction. Vasubandhu anchors it to "superiority of force."

An upaniṣad fraction, a name for an extreme minuteness. Vasubandhu anchors it to "superiority of cause"; Jizang: "the superiority of dissimilar number."

Sumeru, king of mountains — a figure for the enjoyment-body, the Dharma-king body. Xuanzang and Yijing render "the Wondrous-High King of mountains."

A mote, an atom. "Is not a mote" — not the real atom grasped by the outsiders (the Vaiśeṣikas) (Kuiji).

A world-system. "Is not a world" — not a real world made of many real atoms; it takes its name from a mere designation.

All conditioned dharmas, made by the assembling of conditions. Xuanzang: "what is done by assembling"; the six and nine similes contemplate just these — illusory, yet resting on the eight consciousnesses.

The six similes: dream, illusion, bubble, shadow, dew, lightning. Kumārajīva's text contemplates conditioned dharmas as illusory through six.

The nine similes: star, cataract, lamp, illusion, dew, bubble, dream, lightning, cloud. The five "diamond-cutter" versions and the two treatises give nine; Vasubandhu aligns "nine right knowings" with "nine conditioned objects."

Space — a figure for the immeasurable merit of formless giving. Kuiji: "only space can figure the Dharma-body."

A caitya, stūpa, shrine, mound. Where the sūtra is, is as a shrine — the depository of the Buddhas' true Dharma-body.

A wheel-turning king, the worldly monarch bearing the thirty-two marks. King and Buddha bear the same thirty-two marks, so the Buddha cannot be fixed by marks.

Prince Zhaoming's thirty-two-division outline, the spine of this book (with Shi Huijing's split of §17 into a fore- and aft-half).

The five reading-layers: source · vernacular · exposition · essence · apparatus. Each division carries all five; the reader may follow them in order or select.

The nine-register apparatus: placement in the sectioning schemes · collation of the variant translations · “is-not” and the three natures · variant readings of the ancient masters · terminology · simile and rhetoric · cross-reading · East–West observation · manuscript placement.

The six Chinese translations — Kumārajīva, Bodhiruci, Paramārtha, Dharmagupta, Xuanzang, Yijing — coexisting across three centuries, the hard material for cross-translation collation.