楞伽阿跋多羅寶經 白話全本

This is a preface composed by Song-dynasty literati for the Laṅkāvatāra (written by Jiang Zhiqi, in the calligraphy of Su Shi, in the eighth year of the Yuanfeng era, 1085) — not the scripture's own teaching. The original preface tells how the four-scroll Laṅkāvatāra came to circulate in the world, and records how Bodhidharma sealed the mind with the four-scroll Laṅkā. Personal names, book titles, and allusions are kept as they stand.

Preface by Jiang Zhiqi

I (Zhiqi) have long suffered that the Laṅkāvatāra-sūtra is both hard to read and hard to obtain in a good edition. It happened that the Grand Guardian of the Heir Apparent, the retired Lord Zhang of the Southern Capital (Zhang Andao), had this scripture cut for printing, and that Su Zizhan (Su Shi) of Meishan wrote it out and had the printing-blocks carved, to be housed at Jinshan Monastery as its permanent possession. The elder of Jinshan, the great master Foyin, Liaoyuan, took this carved edition and sent it to me. And so I speak of it thus: the scriptures the Buddha taught number, in all, twelve divisions, running to as many as five thousand scrolls. In the age when the True Dharma flourished, those who heard half a verse or caught a single line and thereupon entered awakening were beyond counting. But after the ages of the Semblance and the Final Dharma, far removed from the sages, people began to drown in the written word and to fall into the plight of "counting the sands of the sea," while toward that substance of "the One Real" they grew blank and unable to understand. Then the Patriarchs appeared in the world, pointing directly at the human mind — see your nature and become a Buddha — as a separate transmission outside the teaching; and within a single gesture, a single word, those of the sharpest, highest capacity had already grasped it on the spot. This is why Yunmen went so far as to revile the Buddha, and Yaoshan so far as to warn people not to read the scriptures — both had just this intent. From this, departing from the Buddha, one came to call it "Chan"; departing from the doctrine, one came to call it "the Mysterious." And so the student of the Buddha is sure to disparage Chan, while the one who is shy of doctrine is sure to exalt the Mysterious — the followers of the two houses reproach each other, not knowing that the two were from the first mutually of use. Besides, Chan is itself one of the six perfections — how could it be anything different from the Buddha?

I hold that Chan issues from the Buddha, and the Mysterious issues from doctrine; not to discard Chan out of esteem for the Buddha, and not to discard doctrine out of esteem for the Mysterious — this comes near the mark. Ran Qiu asked Confucius, "On hearing a thing, should one do it?" Confucius said, "On hearing it, do it." Zilu asked, "On hearing a thing, should one do it?" But Confucius said, "While one's father and elder brothers are alive, how can one, on one's own judgment, simply go and do it?" One and the same line, "on hearing it, do it" — Ran Qiu's temper was to shrink back, and so Confucius urged him forward; Zilu's courage outran others, and so Confucius made him yield. Where is teaching ever fixed? It is only a matter of remedying each one's particular excess. When the malady of the student of the Buddha reaches drowning in the scriptural text and being confounded by the sense of the phrases so that a person does not realize the Mysterious purport, then one uses Chan to remedy it; when the malady of the student of Chan reaches empty talk of the Mysterious and toying with clever debate so that a person does not penetrate the doctrine's meaning, then one uses the Buddha to remedy it. The two remedying each other, the Buddha-dharma is made complete.

Long ago Bodhidharma came from the West, and having transmitted the mind-seal to the Second Patriarch (Huike), he further said: "I have the four scrolls of the Laṅkāvatāra-sūtra, and these too I entrust to you. This is the essential gate to the Tathāgata's mind-ground, able to make all sentient beings reveal, awaken to, and enter it." This is precisely the Buddha and Chan transmitted together, the Mysterious and doctrine entrusted as one. It was only at the Fifth Patriarch that the transmission was changed to the Diamond Sūtra, which is why the Sixth Patriarch, hearing a traveler recite the Diamond Sūtra, asked him where he had come from. The traveler said: "I come from Mount of the Fifth Patriarch, east of Huangmei county in Qizhou. The great master, the Fifth Patriarch, constantly exhorts monks and laity that if they will but hold and recite the Diamond Sūtra, they can see their own nature and become Buddhas." One sees that the holding of the Diamond Sūtra began with the Fifth Patriarch. From this the Diamond Sūtra thereupon flourished in the world, while the Laṅkāvatāra-sūtra gradually lost its transmission.

That the Laṅkāvatāra now circulates anew is truly owing to Lord Zhang's championing of it. Passing through the Southern Capital, I paid my respects to Lord Zhang and heard from his own lips the circumstances of the Laṅkāvatāra. Long ago, when Lord Zhang went out from Commissioner of the Three Finance Offices and Hanlin Academician to be Prefect of Chuzhou, he walked one day into the monks' quarters at Langya Monastery, saw a scripture-case, opened it and looked — and it was precisely the Laṅkāvatāra-sūtra. He was struck with the sudden sense that this was what he himself had written out in a former life, the very strokes of the brush plainly as of old — this was surely because his spirit-consciousness had received and held it in a former life, clear beyond doubt. I have heard: when Yang Shuzi (Yang Hu) was five years old, he told his wet-nurse to fetch the gold ring he used to play with. The nurse said, "You never had any such thing." Yang Hu then went himself to the mulberry tree by the east wall of the neighboring Li family, reached into it and drew it out. The master of the house said in astonishment, "This is what my dead son lost — how has it come into your hands?" The nurse told the whole story, and only then was it known that Yang Hu's former body had been the Li family's son. When Bai Letian (Bai Juyi) was born, barely seven months old, his nurse pointed out the two graphs 之 and 無 and taught him, and though tried a hundred times he would not mistake them; at nine he had mastered the rules of prosody. The historians held that his devotion to letters was an inborn endowment; yet Letian himself always held it to be the causal perfuming of former lives.

It is precisely because a person has this nature of "the One Real that does not perish" that, between heaven and earth, there is for him being-born and dying, coming and going. The number of world-ages passed through in the meantime could not be counted out though one used up all the grasses and trees of the world for counting-rods. It is only because, sunk in birth-and-death, the spirit-consciousness is worn out and exhausted, that one can no longer remember; only one who is perfectly clear and unclouded can know it. As for Lord Zhang, who twice passed the special examination with grand compositions and rose to the ranks of the attendant officials, who held the reins of government and came and went at court for more than forty years, whose achievements and stern brilliance are handed down by ear and eye — that his former body was a great and good spiritual guide is therefore not to be doubted. That he can remember the affairs of a former life — does this not precisely show that it is real? And so, on the occasion of reading the newly-carved scripture of the Laṅkāvatāra, I have set down these circumstances at the head of the scroll.

Preface by Su Shi

The Laṅkāvatāra-ratna-sūtra is the subtle, foremost, real, and definitive-meaning dharma taught by the former Buddha, and so it is called "the Chapter on the Heart of All Buddha-Word." The Patriarch Bodhidharma entrusted it to the Second Patriarch, saying: "I have looked over all the scriptures and teachings in Cīnasthāna, and only the four scrolls of the Laṅkāvatāra can seal the mind." Patriarch handed it to Patriarch, taking it as the mind-dharma. It is like the physicians' Classic of Difficulties: every line is a principle, every word a rule. Later masters who penetrated it grew wondrously clear in it, like a pearl running on a plate and the plate running under the pearl — nowhere not free and unobstructed. But to put forth new notions of one's own and cast aside the old learning as useless — that is, if not benighted ignorance, then reckless arrogance. In recent years, students each revere their own master and seek only ease; having got a single line or verse, they take themselves to have awakened and realized, to the point of making women and children clap their hands and laugh and vie in chattering of the joys of Chan. The higher sort do it for fame, the lower for gain; the dregs of the current run to every excess, and the Buddha-dharma has grown weak. It is like the vulgar physician of the villages who, without relying on the medical classics, hands people a prescription directly to treat illness: he may not fail to hit the mark now and then; but let him meet a grave illness, and at every turn he recklessly pronounces on a person's living or dying — then he cannot be spoken of in the same breath as one who has mastered the medical canon and studied the ancient methods. People, seeing only that he has a chance success for a moment, or is quicker than the ancients, say that the Classic of Difficulties need not be learned — is this not a great error!

The doctrine of the Laṅkāvatāra is deep and hidden, its wording spare and archaic. Those who read it cannot always even break the phrasing — how much less put aside the words to grasp the doctrine, or forget the doctrine to awaken to the original mind? This is precisely why it has been so forlorn and neglected in the world, all but abolished and barely surviving. The Grand Guardian of the Heir Apparent, Mr. Lequan, Lord Zhang Andao, with a vast mind, attained the pure awakening. In the Qingli years he had been Prefect of Chuzhou; coming to a monks' quarters, he chanced upon this scripture, and the moment it was in his hand he was struck as though recovering some old possession. Before the scroll was even read through, the karmic hindrances of many lives melted away like ice; and looking closely at the brush-strokes, they were his own hand, plainly as could be. In a mingling of grief and joy he sighed on and on, and from this entered awakening, ever using the four verses at the head of the scripture to make clear the heart's essence. I (Su Shi) have been in company at Lord Zhang's gate now for thirty years; this year, in the second month, passing through the Southern Capital, I saw him at his private residence. Lord Zhang was then seventy-nine; the floating illusions all but extinguished, the light of his wisdom whole and complete; while I too was growing old amid troubles, a hundred thoughts gone cold as ashes. Lord Zhang held that I could still be taught, and so he handed this scripture to me, and moreover produced three hundred thousand cash for me to have it printed and given freely throughout the Jiang-Huai region. The elder of Jinshan, the great master Foyin, Liaoyuan, said: "A printed edition will always have a time when the printing is used up; but if it is written out and carved into blocks, it will be transmitted without end." So I wrote it out, and Liaoyuan further sent his attendant Xiaoji hurrying to Qiantang to seek out a fine carver and have the blocks cut, whereupon it was housed at Jinshan Monastery as its permanent possession.

The ninth day of the ninth month, the eighth year of the Yuanfeng era.

Technical terms of this division (the five dharmas, the intrinsic nature, the consciousnesses, the twofold no-self, the hundred-and-eight meanings, the hundred-and-eight phrases, the tenet, the knowable, Muni, and the like) are kept as they stand.

The scripture opens: the Buddha dwelling on Mount Laṅkā

Thus have I heard: at one time the Buddha was dwelling on the summit of Mount Laṅkā on the shore of the southern sea, adorned with all manner of jeweled flowers, together in one place with a great assembly of bhikṣus and a great assembly of bodhisattvas, these bodhisattvas having come from many and various buddha-fields. These bodhisattva-mahāsattvas all possessed the power of measureless samādhi-sovereignty, able to sport in spiritual penetrations, and among them the bodhisattva-mahāsattva Mahāmati was the foremost. All the buddhas anointed his head with their hands; toward the objective realm manifested by his own mind he could skillfully penetrate its meaning; toward the many kinds of sentient beings and the many kinds of mind-and-form he could, with measureless gates of deliverance, manifest himself universally according to the classes of beings. In the five dharmas, the intrinsic nature, the consciousnesses, and the two kinds of no-self he was ultimately penetrated.

At that time the bodhisattva Mahāmati, together with the bodhisattva Mati, journeyed through the buddha-fields of all the buddhas. Bearing the spiritual power of the Buddha, he rose from his seat, bared his right shoulder, set his right knee to the ground, joined his palms in reverence, and praised the Buddha in verse, saying:

Mahāmati's verses of praise: the wise gain neither being nor non-being, yet rouse the mind of great compassion

　　"The world is of itself free of arising-and-ceasing, like that flower in the empty sky;
　　the wise grasp not being, and grasp not non-being, and yet rouse a vast mind of compassion.
　　All dharmas are illusion-like, apart from mind and consciousness;
　　the wise grasp not being, and grasp not non-being, and yet rouse a vast mind of compassion.
　　Apart from annihilation, apart from permanence, the world is ever like a dream;
　　the wise grasp not being, and grasp not non-being, and yet rouse a vast mind of compassion.
　　Knowing the no-self of persons and the no-self of dharmas, affliction and the knowable
　　are ever of themselves pure and without mark — and yet he rouses a vast mind of compassion.
　　Nowhere among all dharmas is there any nirvāṇa, nor any buddha entering nirvāṇa,
　　nor any nirvāṇa the buddha enters; apart from the awakener and the awakened.
　　To say 'being,' to say 'non-being' — both these extremes are alike left behind;
　　Muni makes his still and silent gazing, and this then is apart from arising —
　　and this is what is called grasping-not, so that this world and the next are pure."

The self-naming: now, with the hundred-and-eight meanings, opening the questioning

At that time the bodhisattva Mahāmati, having finished praising the Buddha in verse, spoke his own name:

　　"My name is called Mahāmati; I have penetrated the great vehicle;
　　now, with these hundred-and-eight kinds of meaning, I look up and inquire of you, most exalted among the honored ones."

That great one who has penetrated the world, hearing the verses he had spoken, observed the whole assembly and told the sons of the Buddha:

　　"You sons of the Buddha, now ask whatever you would ask;
　　I shall expound for you the realm of self-awakening."

The verses of the hundred-and-eight questions: Mahāmati asks in verse

At that time the bodhisattva-mahāsattva Mahāmati, having received the Buddha's leave, bowed his head to the Buddha's feet, joined his palms in reverence, and asked in verse, saying:

　　"How is one's own mindfulness made pure? And how does mindfulness increase?
　　How does one see delusion and confusion? And how does confusion increase?
　　Why are there the transformations of the buddha-fields, the marks, and the many kinds of outsiders?
　　What is it that is called desireless? And why is it called without-receiving?
　　Why is one called a son of the Buddha? And where does liberation reach?
　　Who is it that is bound, who it is that is freed? What is the realm of meditative absorption?
　　Why are there three vehicles? Would that you would expound it for me.
　　From what does conditioned arising arise? How is there an agent and a thing-done?
　　How is there the teaching of the same and the different? How is it called increasing?
　　How is there the formless attainment, and the right-receiving of cessation?
　　How is it called the ceasing of ideation? And by what does one awaken from the absorption?
　　How is there arising by way of a thing done, with advancing, with departing, and with the bearing of the body?
　　How does discrimination present itself? How are the grounds given rise to?
　　Who is it that breaks the three existences? In what place, in what body, and how?
　　Where does rebirth reach? How is one called a most excellent son?
　　By what does one gain the spiritual penetrations, and self-sovereign samādhi?
　　What is the samādhi-mind? Would the most excellent one expound it for me.
　　How is it called the store? How are mentation and consciousness?
　　How is there arising and ceasing? How is it that, once seen, it then ceases again?
　　How is it called lineage, non-lineage, and mind-measure?
　　How are the marks established, and that meaning of the non-self?
　　How is there no sentient being? How is there the worldly way of speaking?
　　How is it called the annihilation-view, and the eternalism-view not arising?
　　How is it that the Buddha and the outsiders — their marks do not conflict?
　　How is it that in ages to come there are the many differing schools?
　　How is there emptiness, and by what as cause? How is there the perishing of the instant?
　　How is there birth from the womb? How is the world unmoving?
　　By what is it like an illusion, a dream, and the city of the gandharvas,
　　the shimmer of the heat-haze of the world, and the moon's light in water?
　　By what does one speak of the limbs of awakening, and the factors of enlightenment?
　　How does a land fall into disorder? How does the view of being arise?
　　How is it neither arising nor ceasing, the world like a flower in the empty sky?
　　How does one awaken to the world? How is 'apart from letters' spoken of?
　　Who is it that is apart from false imagining? How is there the simile of empty space?
　　Of the as-it-really-is, how many kinds are there? How many kinds of the mind of the perfections?
　　By what does one pass beyond the grounds? Who is able to reach the without-receiving?
　　Which are the two kinds of no-self? How is the knowable made pure?
　　Of knowledge, how many kinds are there? How many kinds of precept, how many natures of sentient beings?
　　Who is it that produces the many kinds of jewel-nature, the maṇi, the true pearl, and the rest?
　　Who is it that produces the many kinds of speech, and the many kinds of nature of sentient beings?
　　The fields of knowledge and the arts and skills — by whom are they revealed?
　　Of gāthās, how many kinds are there, the long chants and the short?
　　Of accomplishment, how many kinds are there? How is it called a treatise?
　　How does one produce food-and-drink, and produce the many kinds of craving-desire?
　　How is one called a king, a wheel-turning king, and a lesser king?
　　How does one guard a land? Of the gods, how many kinds are there?
　　How is it called earth, the constellations, and the sun and moon?
　　The practitioners who win liberation — of these, how many kinds each?
　　Of disciples, how many kinds are there? How is there a preceptor?
　　Of buddhas, again, how many kinds are there? And how many kinds of birth?
　　Of Māra and the many kinds of heterodox learning — of these, how many kinds each?
　　The intrinsic nature and the mind — of these, again, how many kinds each?
　　How does one set out an enumeration? Would that the most excellent one expound it.
　　How is there space, wind, cloud? How are mindfulness and keen-wittedness?
　　How is it called a forest, a tree? How is it called a vine, a grass?
　　How is there elephant, horse, deer? How does one go to catch them?
　　How is it called mean and base? By what is it mean and base?
　　How is one gathered in by the six teachers? How is there an icchantika?
　　Male, female, and the not-male — how are these all born?
　　How does one who practices fall back? How does one who practices win birth?
　　By what dharma does the meditation-master establish which sort of person?
　　Sentient beings born into the various destinies — of what mark, of what sort of likeness?
　　How is it called wealth? By what does one come by wealth?
　　How is it called the Śākya-clan? By what is there a Śākya-clan?
　　How is there the sugar-cane clan? Would the most unsurpassed and honored one expound it.
　　How is there the seer of long ascetic suffering? And how does he teach?
　　Why does the Tathāgata, in all times and all fields, manifest himself,
　　presenting the many classes of name-and-form, with the most excellent sons surrounding him?
　　How is it not-eating-of-flesh? How is the eating of flesh forbidden and cut off?
　　Those many classes that eat flesh — for what reason do they eat flesh?
　　How is there the shape of sun and moon, Sumeru and the lotus,
　　the field with the mark of the lion's excellence, worlds that dwell on their side or lie covered over,
　　like the net of Indra, or all of the many kinds of precious jewels,
　　the lute, the slender-waisted drum, in shapes like the many kinds of flower,
　　or apart from the light of sun and moon — such and such measureless shapes?
　　How is it called a transformation-buddha? How is it called a recompense-born buddha?
　　How is it called a suchness-buddha? How is it called a wisdom-buddha?
　　Why is it that in the realm of desire one does not accomplish perfect awakening?
　　Why is it that in the Highest-Form Heaven, apart from desire, one wins enlightenment?
　　After the Well-Gone One's parinirvāṇa, who shall then uphold the right dharma?
　　How long does the teacher of gods abide in the world? And how long does the right dharma abide?
　　The tenet and the view — of each, again, how many kinds?
　　The vinaya and the standing of a bhikṣu — how, and by what causes and conditions?
　　Those many most excellent sons, the pratyekabuddhas and the śrāvakas —
　　by what are there a hundred kinds of alteration? How are there a hundred kinds of without-receiving?
　　How is it worldly spiritual penetration? How is it the supramundane?
　　How is it called the seventh ground? Would that you would expound it for me.
　　Of the saṃgha, how many kinds are there? How is it called the breaking of the saṃgha?
　　How is there the treatise of medical prescription, and by what sort of causes and conditions is it?
　　Why is it that the great Muni proclaims words such as these:
　　'Kāśyapa, Krakucchanda, Kanakamuni — these are I'?
　　Why does one speak of annihilation, of permanence, and of self and no-self?
　　Why does one not, in all times, expound the meaning of the real,
　　but rather, for sentient beings, discriminate and expound the mind-measure?
　　By what is there the forest of male-and-female, the harītakī, the āmalaka,
　　the khadira and the Cakravāḍa, the vajra and the many kinds of mountain,
　　adorned with measureless precious jewels, with seers and gandharvas filling them?"

The World-Honored One grants his answer: well asked, well asked

That unsurpassed knower of the world, hearing the verses he had spoken — these being the many kinds of gate of deliverance of the great vehicle, the foremost meaning in the hearts of the buddhas —

　　"Well asked, oh well asked!
　　Mahāmati, listen well: I shall now, in due sequence,
　　speak according to what you have asked. Arising and not-arising,
　　nirvāṇa, emptiness, the instant, tending toward naturelessness,
　　the buddhas' many perfections; the sons of the Buddha and the śrāvakas,
　　the pratyekabuddhas, the many outsiders, and the formless practice —
　　such and such kinds of thing. Sumeru, the great ocean, the mountains,
　　the isles, the buddha-fields, the earth, the constellations and the sun and moon,
　　the outsiders, the gods, the asuras, liberation, sovereignty, spiritual penetration,
　　the powers, the meditations, the samādhis, cessation and the bases of spiritual power,
　　the limbs of awakening and the factors of the path, and meditative absorptions measureless.
　　The going and coming of the aggregate-bodies, the right-receiving and the cessation-attainment.
　　The mind's utterance when samādhi arises, mind, mentation, and consciousness,
　　the dharma of no-self of five kinds, the intrinsic nature, ideation, the ideated,
　　and the two views that present themselves, the vehicles and the many natures,
　　gold, silver, maṇi, and the rest, the icchantika, the great elements,
　　the disorderly, and the one buddha, knowledge, the knowable, attainment, that toward which one tends.
　　The being and non-being of sentient beings, elephant, horse, the many kinds of beast,
　　how one goes to catch them, the simile, the cause, the accomplishment, the tenet,
　　and the agent and the thing-done, the dense forest, the confusion, the spiritual penetration.
　　The mind-measure does not of itself present being; the grounds do not reach one another;
　　a hundred kinds of alteration, a hundred kinds of without-receiving. Medical prescription, the treatise of the crafts,
　　the arts and the many fields of knowledge, the many mountains, Sumeru, the earth,
　　the number of the great ocean, the sun and moon. Sentient beings of the low, the middle, the high,
　　how many motes of dust each body has, how many motes each single field has,
　　how many the number of bow-and-bow, of cubit, of pace, of krośa,
　　of half a yojana, of one yojana. The hare's hair, the mote in the window-light, the ant,
　　the sheep's wool, the mote of barley — how many barley-grains an eka-paṭa has,
　　how many barley-grains an ārā has, the droṇa and the khārī,
　　the lakṣa and the koṭi, on up to the bimbara —
　　how many of each of these there are. How many aṇu there are,
　　that is called sarṣapa. How many sarṣapa
　　make one lardi. How many lardi, māṣa,
　　make one māṣadhāna. How many māṣadhāna
　　make one dhānara. And again, how many dhānara
　　make one karṣa. How many karṣa
　　make one pala. These marks of the amassed —
　　how many pala make one Meru. These are what should be asked;
　　what need is there to ask of the rest? The śrāvaka, the pratyekabuddha,
　　the Buddha and the most excellent son — how many is each body's number?
　　Why not ask of this? How many aṇu has the flame,
　　and how many the aṇu of the wind, and how many aṇu each single faculty has,
　　and how many the pores and the brows? The wealth-guarding sovereign lord,
　　the wheel-turning sage-emperor king — how does he guard his kingdom?
　　How is it called liberation? The broad telling and the phrase-telling
　　are all as you have asked. The many kinds of desire of sentient beings,
　　the many kinds of food-and-drink, how is there the forest of male-and-female,
　　the vajra-firm mountain? How is it like an illusion, a dream,
　　the simile of the deer's thirst-craving? How is there mountain, god, seer,
　　the adornment of the gandharvas, where does liberation reach,
　　who is bound, who is freed? How is the realm of meditative absorption,
　　transformation, and the outsiders? How is there making without a cause?
　　How is there making with a cause? Making with a cause, without a cause,
　　and the cause that is neither being nor non-being? How does one present, then cease?
　　How does one make pure the awakenings? How do the awakenings turn about,
　　and the many things done turn about? How does one cut off the many kinds of ideation?
　　How does samādhi arise? Who is it that breaks the three existences?
　　In what place, for what body? How is there no sentient being,
　　and yet the saying of a 'me and mine'? How is there the worldly way of speaking?
　　Would that you would broadly discriminate. What is the mark asked about,
　　and the non-self asked about? How is there the womb,
　　and the many kinds of differing body? How does one cut off the annihilation-view and the eternalism-view?
　　How does the mind win concentration? Speech and the many kinds of knowledge,
　　precept, lineage, sons of the Buddha, how is there accomplishment and disputation?
　　How is there master and disciple, the many kinds of sentient being —
　　how are these, again? How is there food-and-drink,
　　keen wits broadly set out? How is there tree and creeper?
　　This is what the most excellent son asks. How are there the many kinds of field,
　　the seer of long ascetic practice? How is it called clan and family,
　　and from what sort of master does one receive learning? How is it called ugliness?
　　How is a person's practice? Why in the realm of desire is there no awakening,
　　and accomplishment in the Akaniṣṭha Heaven? How is it worldly spiritual penetration?
　　How is it called a bhikṣu? How is it called a transformation-buddha?
　　How is it called a recompense-buddha? How is it called suchness,
　　and the equal-wisdom buddha? How is it called the assembly of monks?
　　The sons of the Buddha ask thus — the lute, the waist-drum, the flower,
　　the field apart from light, that one of the mind-ground with the seven stages.
　　All that is asked is as-it-really-is, these and the rest, the many,
　　are all what the sons of the Buddha should ask, each mark answering to the next.
　　Apart from the fault of the many views, the tenet is apart from words;
　　I shall now reveal it, establishing the phrases in due sequence.
　　Sons of the Buddha, listen well: these hundred-and-eight phrases above
　　are all as the buddhas have spoken them."

The hundred-and-eight phrases: phrase · not-phrase

"Not-arising phrase, arising phrase. Permanence phrase, impermanence phrase. Mark phrase, no-mark phrase. Abiding-and-altering phrase, not-abiding-and-altering phrase. Instant phrase, not-instant phrase. Intrinsic-nature phrase, apart-from-intrinsic-nature phrase. Emptiness phrase, not-empty phrase. Cutting-off phrase, not-cutting-off phrase. Boundary phrase, not-boundary phrase. Middle phrase, not-middle phrase. Permanence phrase, not-permanence phrase. Condition phrase, not-condition phrase. Cause phrase, not-cause phrase. Affliction phrase, not-affliction phrase. Craving phrase, not-craving phrase. Skillful-means phrase, not-skillful-means phrase. Deftness phrase, not-deftness phrase. Purity phrase, not-purity phrase. Accomplishment phrase, not-accomplishment phrase. Simile phrase, not-simile phrase. Disciple phrase, not-disciple phrase. Master phrase, not-master phrase. Lineage phrase, not-lineage phrase. Three-vehicle phrase, not-three-vehicle phrase. Possessed phrase, unpossessed phrase. Vow phrase, not-vow phrase. Three-wheel phrase, not-three-wheel phrase. Mark phrase, not-mark phrase. Being-in-kind phrase, not-being-in-kind phrase. Together phrase, not-together phrase. The phrase of the present-dharma-bliss manifest through the noble wisdom of self-realization, not-manifest-present-dharma-bliss phrase. Buddha-field phrase, not-buddha-field phrase. Aṇu phrase, not-aṇu phrase. Water phrase, not-water phrase. Bow phrase, not-bow phrase. Real phrase, not-real phrase. Number phrase, not-number phrase. Number phrase, not-number phrase. Knowledge phrase, not-knowledge phrase. Empty-space phrase, not-empty-space phrase. Cloud phrase, not-cloud phrase. Crafts-and-arts-and-skills-field phrase, not-crafts-field phrase. Wind phrase, not-wind phrase. Earth phrase, not-earth phrase. Mind phrase, not-mind phrase. Setting-out phrase, not-setting-out phrase. Intrinsic-nature phrase, not-intrinsic-nature phrase. Aggregate phrase, not-aggregate phrase. Sentient-being phrase, not-sentient-being phrase. Insight phrase, not-insight phrase. Nirvāṇa phrase, not-nirvāṇa phrase. Knowable phrase, not-knowable phrase. Outsider phrase, not-outsider phrase. Disorder phrase, not-disorder phrase. Illusion phrase, not-illusion phrase. Dream phrase, not-dream phrase. Heat-haze phrase, not-heat-haze phrase. Image phrase, not-image phrase. Wheel phrase, not-wheel phrase. Gandharva phrase, not-gandharva phrase. God phrase, not-god phrase. Food-and-drink phrase, not-food-and-drink phrase. Lust-desire phrase, not-lust-desire phrase. View phrase, not-view phrase. Perfection phrase, not-perfection phrase. Precept phrase, not-precept phrase. Sun-moon-and-constellation phrase, not-sun-moon-and-constellation phrase. Truth phrase, not-truth phrase. Fruit phrase, not-fruit phrase. Ceasing-and-arising phrase, not-ceasing-and-arising phrase. Cure phrase, not-cure phrase. Mark phrase, not-mark phrase. Limb phrase, not-limb phrase. Deft-knowledge-field phrase, not-deft-knowledge-field phrase. Meditation phrase, not-meditation phrase. Confusion phrase, not-confusion phrase. Manifesting phrase, not-manifesting phrase. Guarding phrase, not-guarding phrase. Clan phrase, not-clan phrase. Seer phrase, not-seer phrase. King phrase, not-king phrase. Gathering-in phrase, not-gathering-in phrase. Real phrase, not-real phrase. Prediction phrase, not-prediction phrase. Icchantika phrase, not-icchantika phrase. Female-male-not-male phrase, not-female-male-not-male phrase. Flavor phrase, not-flavor phrase. Thing phrase, not-thing phrase. Body phrase, not-body phrase. Awakening phrase, not-awakening phrase. Moving phrase, not-moving phrase. Faculty phrase, not-faculty phrase. Conditioned phrase, not-conditioned phrase. Unconditioned phrase, not-unconditioned phrase. Cause-and-fruit phrase, not-cause-and-fruit phrase. Highest-Form phrase, not-Highest-Form phrase. Joint phrase, not-joint phrase. Dense-tree-and-vine phrase, not-dense-tree-and-vine phrase. Mixed phrase, not-mixed phrase. Speaking phrase, not-speaking phrase. Vinaya phrase, not-vinaya phrase. Bhikṣu phrase, not-bhikṣu phrase. Place phrase, not-place phrase. Letter phrase, not-letter phrase."

"Mahāmati! these hundred-and-eight phrases were spoken by the former buddhas; you and the bodhisattva-mahāsattvas should train in them."

Technical terms of this division (the true consciousness, the manifesting consciousness, the object-discriminating consciousness, the evolving consciousnesses, the store consciousness, the seven kinds of intrinsic nature, the seven kinds of ultimate meaning, the samādhi of illusion) are kept as they stand.

〔Question〕Mahāmati asks: how many kinds of arising, abiding, and ceasing do the consciousnesses have?

At that time the bodhisattva-mahāsattva Mahāmati again said to the Buddha: "World-Honored One! Of how many kinds are the arising, the abiding, and the ceasing of the consciousnesses?"

〔Answer〕Two kinds of arising, abiding, and ceasing · three aspects · three consciousnesses

The Buddha told Mahāmati: "The consciousnesses have two kinds of arising, two kinds of abiding, and two kinds of ceasing — and this is not something that reasoning can fathom. The consciousnesses have two kinds of arising: first, arising as flux; second, arising as mark. They have two kinds of abiding: abiding as flux, and abiding as mark. They have two kinds of ceasing: ceasing as flux, and ceasing as mark. The consciousnesses further have three aspects: first, the evolving aspect; second, the karmic aspect; third, the true aspect.

"Mahāmati! Stated briefly, there are three kinds of consciousness; stated at length, there are eight aspects. Which three? They are the true consciousness, the manifesting consciousness, and the object-discriminating consciousness. Mahāmati! Just as a bright mirror holds all the color-images, so too does the manifesting consciousness present its objects. Mahāmati! As for the manifesting consciousness and the object-discriminating consciousness — the one does not perish and the other does perish, yet the two are causes for each other, turn and turn about. Mahāmati! Inconceivable perfuming and inconceivable transformation are the cause of the manifesting consciousness. Mahāmati! The grasping of all sorts of sense-objects, together with the perfuming of beginningless false imagining, is the cause of the object-discriminating consciousness. Mahāmati! If that true consciousness is covered over, then the many kinds of unreal and false things cease, and thereupon all the sense-consciousnesses cease. Mahāmati! This is called the ceasing of mark. Mahāmati! As for the ceasing of the continuum: when the cause on which the continuum depends ceases, the continuum ceases; when that from which it arises ceases and the object it takes as condition ceases, the continuum ceases. Mahāmati! Why is this so? Because of that on which it depends. What is meant by 'that on which it depends' is the beginningless perfuming of false imagining; what is meant by 'the condition' is the false imagining of the objects of consciousness — the objects seen by one's own mind and the like.

The clay-lump-and-atoms simile: the evolving consciousnesses and the store consciousness are neither different nor not-different, and the true aspect does not perish

"Mahāmati! Just as a clay-lump and the atoms of dust are neither different nor not-different, so likewise are gold and the ornaments wrought of it. Mahāmati! If the clay-lump and the atoms were different, the lump would not be composed of them; yet it truly is composed of them, and therefore they are not-different. But if they were simply not-different, then the clay-lump and the atoms would have no distinction. Just so, Mahāmati! If the evolving consciousnesses and the true aspect of the store consciousness were different, the store consciousness would not be their cause; if they were not-different, then when the evolving consciousnesses cease the store consciousness ought to cease along with them — yet its own true aspect does not, in fact, perish. Therefore, Mahāmati! it is not the case that the consciousness that is the true aspect itself perishes; what perishes is only the karmic aspect. If the true aspect itself were to perish, then the store consciousness would perish. Mahāmati! Were the store consciousness to perish, that would be no different from the annihilation-view held in the disputations of the outsiders.

"Mahāmati! Those outsiders frame a doctrine like this, saying: 'When the objects that are grasped cease, the flux of consciousness ceases too; and if the flux of consciousness ceases, then the beginningless flux ought to be cut off.' Mahāmati! The outsiders hold that the cause giving rise to the flux is not the meeting of eye, form, and light, but that there is some other cause besides. Mahāmati! That cause of which they speak is 'the Supremely-Fine,' or 'the Person,' or 'the Sovereign Lord,' or 'Time,' or 'atoms.'

The seven kinds of intrinsic nature · the seven kinds of ultimate meaning

"Furthermore, Mahāmati! there are seven kinds of intrinsic nature, namely: the intrinsic nature of amassing, the intrinsic nature of being, the intrinsic nature of mark, the intrinsic nature of the great elements, the intrinsic nature of cause, the intrinsic nature of condition, and the intrinsic nature of completion.

"Furthermore, Mahāmati! there are seven kinds of ultimate meaning, namely: the realm of mind, the realm of insight, the realm of knowledge, the realm of view, the realm that transcends the two views, the realm that transcends the stage of the [bodhisattva-]son, and the realm reached by the Tathāgata himself. Mahāmati! This is the mind of intrinsic nature and ultimate meaning of all the Tathāgatas, Worthy Ones, Perfectly Awakened Ones of past, future, and present. With this mind of intrinsic nature and ultimate meaning, they accomplish the Tathāgata's mundane, supramundane, and supreme-supramundane dharmas; entering by the eye of noble insight, they establish the particular mark and the shared mark. What is thus established is not held in common with the evil views of the outsiders. Mahāmati! What is it to be held in common with the evil views of the outsiders? It is this: seeing the false imagining of one's own objective realm, one does not awaken to the fact that it is one's own mind's manifestation, and so one cannot pass beyond the bounds. Mahāmati! The foolish common person frames a doctrine of the two extremes concerning 'being' and 'non-being,' concerning 'intrinsic nature' and 'ultimate meaning.'

The suffering of the three realms born of false imagining ceases · the bodhisattva's right contemplation

"Furthermore, Mahāmati! that the suffering of the three existences born of false imagining ceases, and that the conditions of not-knowing, craving, and action cease, and that the illusion-like realm manifested by one's own mind is [seen] as one's seeing goes — this I shall now expound. Mahāmati! Suppose there are ascetics or brahmins who would have it that what had no cause now comes to have a cause, and its fruit made to appear; or that a thing abides within time; or that, conditioned upon the aggregates, elements, and sense-fields, there is arising and abiding; or who say that, once arisen, it then ceases. Mahāmati! Such a one has cast the whole of it — continuum, thing, arising, existence, nirvāṇa, path, action, fruit, and truth — into a doctrine of ruinous annihilation. Why so? Because these are simply not to be found before us, and because their beginning is seen to be no divisible mark at all. Mahāmati! Just as a broken pot no longer does the work of a pot, and a scorched seed no longer does the work of sprouting, so likewise, Mahāmati! if one says that the nature of the aggregates, elements, and sense-fields has ceased, is ceasing, or is going to cease, then — since this is what one's own mind's false imagining sees, and is without cause — there is for them no arising in sequence at all.

"Mahāmati! If, again, someone says that a consciousness 'without seed' or 'with seed' arises from the joining of three conditions, then a tortoise ought to grow hair and oil ought to be pressed from sand — your thesis is thereby ruined, and it runs counter to the settled meaning. To speak of 'with seed' and 'without seed' carries just such a fault, and all the works one undertakes turn out empty and without meaning. Mahāmati! Those outsiders who say that things arise from the joining of three conditions — taking the particular marks of means-and-cause-and-fruit, grasping at 'with-seed' and 'without-seed' marks across past, future, and present, handing them down as accomplished facts from the very root, revolving on the plane of conceptual thought, and following the habit-energy of the faults their own view sees — frame a doctrine like this. Just so, Mahāmati! the foolish common person, harmed by evil views, crooked and drunk, without wisdom, falsely proclaims this to be the teaching of 'all-knowledge.'

"Mahāmati! If, again, there are other ascetics or brahmins who see that all things are apart from intrinsic nature — like a floating cloud, like a whirling firebrand, like a gandharva-city; unborn, illusory, a mirage, the moon in water, a dream; who see that inner and outer are but the mind's manifestation, that false imagining arises from beginningless falsity and is not apart from one's own mind; who, when the causes and conditions of false imagining are exhausted, are apart from 'what is said and the saying of it,' apart from 'what is contemplated and the contemplating of it,' apart from the store consciousness that receives, uses, and sets up this body; who, within the realm of consciousness, no longer answer to grasper and grasped; who, in the realm where nothing whatever is [to be found], are apart from arising, abiding, and ceasing, [seeing] only what one's own mind gives rise to and then enters into discrimination — Mahāmati! such a bodhisattva will before long win the sameness of birth-and-death and nirvāṇa, giving rise to the skillful means of great compassion, a skillful means that needs no contriving. Mahāmati! He knows that the whole realm of sentient beings is illusion-like, not arising from the diligent working of causes; and so he leaves behind inner and outer objects, seeing nothing apart from mind. In due sequence he enters the place of no-mark; in due sequence he enters the samādhi-realms that pass from ground to ground; understanding the three realms to be illusion-like, and contemplating them thus in discernment, he shall win the samādhi of illusion. Having crossed beyond the nothing-whatever manifested by his own mind, he comes to abide in the perfection of insight; casting off that contriving of means that arises 'from birth,' he enters the Tathāgata's body by the vajra-like samādhi. Entering the transformations of suchness — sovereign in spiritual power, furnished in full with compassion and skillful means — he enters equally into all buddha-fields and into the resorts the outsiders enter, apart from mind, mentation, and mental consciousness. Such a bodhisattva, turning about his body step by step, wins the Tathāgata's body. Mahāmati! Therefore one who would win the body into which the Tathāgata enters should leave behind the aggregates, elements, sense-fields, and mind; leave behind the contrivance of means made by causes and conditions; and leave behind the falsity of arising, abiding, and ceasing that is false imagining. With mind alone he goes straight on, contemplating the habit-energy of false imagining — the fault of beginningless falsity — and, by way of the three existences, reflecting his way to 'nothing whatever,' reflecting his way to the non-arising that is the buddha-ground, until he reaches the noble resort of self-realization, sovereign over his own mind, and reaches the practice that needs no contriving. Like the maṇi-jewel that shows itself according to the many colors, he enters the subtle minds of sentient beings, and with a transformation-body delivers them according to the measure of their minds, so that the grounds are established one after another in sequence. Therefore, Mahāmati! in the skillful tenets of one's own school one should train well."

The four conditions by which the eye-consciousness evolves · the ocean of the store-consciousness and its waves

At that time the World-Honored One told the bodhisattva Mahāmati: "By four conditions the eye-consciousness evolves. Which four? They are: not awakening to the grasping of one's own mind's manifestation; the habit-energy of forms — the fault of beginningless falsity; the clinging to consciousness as having intrinsic nature; and the wish to see all sorts of forms. Mahāmati! These are called the four conditions — the place where the current flows — by which, upon the store consciousness, the waves of the evolving consciousnesses arise. Mahāmati! As with the eye-consciousness, so all the sense-faculties, down to the atoms and the pores, arise together, each arising in sequence according to its object — just so. It is like a bright mirror presenting the images of all the colors. Mahāmati! Or again, it is like a fierce wind stirring up the waters of the great ocean: the wind of the outer objective realm buffets the ocean of the mind, and the waves of consciousness roll on without a break. Because the marks made [by conditions] are now different and now not-different, and combining with action they give rise to their marks, and there is deep clinging, and the intrinsic nature of form and the rest cannot be understood — therefore the five sense-consciousnesses evolve. Mahāmati! In the very moment those five sense-consciousnesses arise together, because there is knowing of the differentiated segments of the objective realm, know that the mental consciousness too evolves by way of those [five]. Yet they do not form the thought: 'We are causes for one another turn and turn about; we are one's own mind's manifestation; we evolve by the clinging of false imagining.' Rather, each of them, marred in its mark, evolves together with the rest, discriminating the objective realm into segmented differences — and this is called their evolving. It is as when one who cultivates practice enters the samādhi of meditative absorption: the subtle habit-energy goes on evolving, though he does not awaken to it, and he forms the thought: 'It is after consciousness has ceased that I enter meditative attainment.' In truth it is not that consciousness has ceased and then he enters attainment; because the seeds of habit-energy do not cease, consciousness does not cease; it is only because the grasping of the objective realm no longer arises in full that it is said to cease.

"Mahāmati! This store consciousness, so subtle — its ultimate limit none can measure save the Tathāgatas and the bodhisattvas who abide on the grounds; for the śrāvakas, pratyekabuddhas, and outsiders, with the power of samādhi and wisdom won by their practice, are one and all unable to measure it or to determine that wisdom which knows the marks of the remaining grounds, that skillful means of discernment, that decisive judgment of the meaning of the words. When one's supreme and boundless roots of goodness have ripened, apart from the falsity of false imagining that is one's own mind's manifestation, sitting quietly in the mountain forests and cultivating the lower, middle, and higher practice, one is able to see the flux of one's own mind's false imagining; in measureless buddha-lands one receives the consecration of the buddhas, and wins the power of sovereignty, spiritual penetrations, and samādhi; and with good friends, the sons of the buddhas, as one's retinue — then that mind, mentation, and mental consciousness of his, that false imagining of the realm of intrinsic nature manifested by his own mind, that ocean of the existences of birth-and-death, that action, craving, and not-knowing — all these causes he thereby crosses altogether beyond. Therefore, Mahāmati! those who cultivate practice should draw near to the supreme good friend."

The verse: the ocean of the store-consciousness abides constant

At that time the World-Honored One, wishing to restate this meaning, spoke in verse:

　　Just as the mighty ocean-waves　are stirred up by the fierce wind,
　　the surging billows pounding the dark abyss　with never a time of ceasing —
　　the ocean of the store-consciousness abides constant,　but when the wind of objects moves it,
　　the many kinds of waves of consciousness　go leaping up and evolve into being.

Technical terms of this division (the perception of one's own mind's manifestation, the grasped, the three marks of noble wisdom, the mark of nothing-whatever, the mark of the [buddhas'] own vows' resort, the mark of the ultimate of noble self-realization, the mark of the lame-donkey mind-insight-wisdom, the eighth ground of the most-victorious son, the samādhi of illusion, the five dharmas and the self-natures, the no-self of persons and of dharmas, the flux of one's own mind's manifestation, the nature of conditioned-arising, the nature of false imagining, the store consciousness, the buddha-of-dependence, the dharma-buddha, the transformation-buddha, the Tathāgata's ever-abiding dharma-body) are kept as they stand.

Apart from the crowd and the mundane · apart from evil views · penetrating the false imagining of one's own mind's manifestation

Furthermore, Mahāmati! if the bodhisattva-mahāsattva would fathom the perception of one's own mind's manifestation — and the realm of false imagining formed by the grasped and the grasper — then he should keep far from the crowd, far from the mundane, far from sleep, ever awakening of himself in the first, middle, and last watches of the night and cultivating skillful means; he should keep far from the words of the evil-view scriptures and treatises, and from the marks of the śrāvaka-vehicle and the pratyekabuddha-vehicle; he should penetrate the mark of the false imagining that is one's own mind's manifestation.

The three marks of noble wisdom · to be diligently trained in

Furthermore, Mahāmati! once the bodhisattva-mahāsattva has set up the mark of insight and, its stand made firm, abides in it, he should diligently train in the three marks of noble wisdom that lie a step higher. What are the three marks of noble wisdom that are to be diligently trained in? They are: the mark of nothing-whatever, the mark of the resort of the vows of all the buddhas, and the mark of the ultimate of noble self-realization. Having practiced and won these three marks, he can then cast off that lame-donkey-like mark of mind-insight-wisdom and win the eighth ground of the most-victorious son, whereupon, upon that ground, the three marks are cultivated and arise. Mahāmati! the so-called mark of nothing-whatever means the marks of the śrāvakas, the pratyekabuddhas, and the outsiders; the three marks are cultivated and arise by contemplating this. Mahāmati! the so-called mark of the [buddhas'] own vows' resort means the resort of the vows made by the buddhas who went before; the three marks arise by cultivating this. Mahāmati! the so-called mark of the ultimate of noble self-realization is, toward all the marks of dharmas, no longer to reckon and cling; winning the body of the samādhi of illusion, one advances toward the place of the buddha-grounds and, cultivating, gives rise to it. Mahāmati! these are called the three marks of noble wisdom. If one can accomplish these three marks of noble wisdom, one can then reach the realm of noble self-realization. Therefore, Mahāmati! these three marks of noble wisdom are to be diligently trained in."

At that time the bodhisattva-mahāsattva Mahāmati, knowing what was bound up in the minds of the assembly of the great bodhisattvas — that dharma-sense named "the Sūtra of the Self-Nature Discriminated by Noble Wisdom in its Matters" — borrowed the majestic spiritual power of all the buddhas and said to the Buddha: "World-Honored One! May you, for our sake, expound 'the Sūtra of the Self-Nature Discriminated by Noble Wisdom in its Matters,' which is that on which the hundred and eight phrases, as discriminated, depend. Relying on this discrimination, the Tathāgata, the Worthy One, the Perfectly Awakened One expounds how the bodhisattva-mahāsattva enters into the particular mark, the shared mark, and the nature of false imagining. Because false imagining's own-nature is thus discriminated and expounded, one can well know and thoroughly contemplate the no-self of persons and the no-self of dharmas, purify away false imagining, illumine all the grounds, transcend all the manifold meditative pleasures of the śrāvakas, pratyekabuddhas, and the outsiders, contemplate the inconceivable realm-of-conduct of the Tathāgata, and at last decisively cast off the five dharmas and the self-natures. The dharma-body-wisdom of the buddhas and Tathāgatas can well adorn itself of its own accord, transcend the realm of illusory transformation, ascend into all the buddha-fields, the Tuṣita-heaven palace, and even the palace of the Akaniṣṭha heaven, and attain the Tathāgata's ever-abiding dharma-body."

The Buddha told Mahāmati: "There is one class of outsiders who make the false imagining of 'nothing-whatever' and cling to it. Because they have come to know that the 'cause' is used up, they give rise to the thought 'the hare has no horns.' They think: just as the hare has no horns, so too are all dharmas — one and all without existence. Mahāmati! there is again another class of outsiders who, seeing that those form-and-obstruction dharmas — the 'element,' the 'guṇa,' the 'atom,' the 'dravya' and the rest — each has its distinctions, and having seen this, cling to the 'hare-has-no-horns' as a form-and-obstruction dharma, turn about and make the thought 'the ox has horns.' Mahāmati! both these classes have fallen upon the view of the two extremes; they do not understand that all is but mind-measure, and, within the false imagining of one's own mind's realm, they increase the enjoyment of the body and set up a fixed measure of false imagining. Mahāmati! the very nature of all dharmas is also just so: it is apart from 'existence' and 'non-existence,' and one should not frame thoughts upon it. Mahāmati! if one again, having left 'existence and non-existence' behind, still makes the thought 'the hare has no horns,' this is called wrong thinking. It is because they contemplate by mutual dependence that they say the hare has no horns — yet even this should not be made a thought of; down to using motes of dust to discriminate the nature of a thing, it is utterly ungraspable. Mahāmati! the realm of the noble ones is apart from all these; nor should one make the thought 'the ox has horns.'"

At that time the bodhisattva-mahāsattva Mahāmati said to the Buddha: "World-Honored One! Is it that the one who has won 'no false imagining,' having seen the thought of 'non-arising,' then, by inference, weighs and contemplates the false imagining of 'non-arising,' and so says it is 'nothing'?"

The Buddha told Mahāmati: "It is not that one contemplates the false imagining of 'non-arising' and so says it is 'nothing.' Why is this? Because what is called false imagining arises in dependence upon that — it is in dependence upon the 'horn' that the false imagining arises. It is precisely because the false imagining arises in dependence upon the 'horn' that it is said to be 'dependent on a cause' and so exists; therefore it cannot be apart from 'different and not-different' — and so it is not that one contemplates the false imagining of 'non-arising' and thereby says 'no horns.' Mahāmati! if that false imagining were different from the 'horn,' it would not arise by reason of the horn; if it were not-different, then it would exist precisely by reason of that horn. Down to analyzing by motes of dust and searching it out, it is utterly ungraspable — just because it is not-different from the 'horn.' And that 'horn' itself too has no real nature; both are without real nature — then by which dharma, for what reason, does one say 'nothing'? Mahāmati! if, because of 'nothing,' one says 'no horns,' and, because of contemplating 'existence,' one says 'the hare has no horns' — neither should be made a thought of. Mahāmati! to use an incorrect cause and say 'existence' and 'non-existence' — neither extreme can be established. Mahāmati! there is again another class of outsider-view that clings to those form-and-obstruction dharmas — 'form,' 'space,' 'thing,' 'form-and-place' and the rest — and, unable to know well the divisions of empty space, says 'form is apart from empty space,' giving rise to a view and false imagining of 'divisions.' Mahāmati! empty space is precisely form, and it is straightway subsumed within the seed of form. Mahāmati! form is what empty space holds and is held-by; it is set up upon the matters of form and space; the very nature of the matters of form and space should be discriminated and known in this way. Mahāmati! when the four great elements arise, their several marks are each distinct, and they do not abide within empty space either; yet neither is there some empty space apart from them. Just so, Mahāmati! it is by contemplating 'the ox has horns' that one says 'the hare has no horns.' Mahāmati! again, as for that ox-horn: if one splits it into motes of dust, and then discriminates those motes of dust, moment by moment they do not abide — then by contemplating what do you say it is 'nothing'? And if you say it is by contemplating some other thing, that other thing's dharma is likewise just so [utterly ungraspable]."

Apart from the false imagining of divergent views · restating in verse · the sudden-and-gradual similes · the buddha-of-dependence and the dharma-buddha

At that time the World-Honored One told the bodhisattva-mahāsattva Mahāmati: "You should keep far from those false imaginings of divergent views — 'hare-horns,' 'ox-horns,' 'empty space,' 'form-and-shape' and the rest. You bodhisattva-mahāsattvas should contemplate the false imagining that is one's own mind's manifestation, and thereupon enter into all the buddha-fields to be a most-victorious son, teaching sentient beings by the skillful means of 'one's own mind's manifestation.'"

At that time the World-Honored One, wishing to restate this meaning, spoke in verse:

　　Form and the rest, together with mind,　are in truth without existence;
　　form and the rest nourish and foster mind,
　　the body's enjoyment is thereby set up,　and the consciousness-store manifests sentient beings.
　　Mind, mentation, and consciousness,　together with self-nature and dharma — five in all;
　　the twofold no-self, and purity thereby won —　this is what the one of broad exposition says.
　　Long and short, existence and non-existence and the rest　arise from one another in turn;
　　because of 'non-existence,' 'existence' comes to be,　because of 'existence,' 'non-existence' comes to be.
　　Discriminating a thing by motes of dust,　no false imagining of form arises;
　　that place set up by mind-measure　is what the one of evil views takes no joy in.
　　Perceiving-thought is not that realm,　and it is likewise so for the śrāvaka;
　　what is spoken by the buddha who saves the world alone　is the realm of self-realization.

At that time the bodhisattva Mahāmati, for the sake of purifying away the flux of one's own mind's manifestation, again asked the Tathāgata, saying to the Buddha: "World-Honored One! how is the flux of one's own mind's manifestation of all sentient beings purified away — is it sudden, or gradual?"

The Buddha told Mahāmati: "Purified gradually, not suddenly. Just as the āmra-fruit ripens gradually and not all at once, so too does the Tathāgata purify away all sentient beings' flux of one's own mind's manifestation, purified gradually and not suddenly. Just as the potter makes the manifold vessels, completing them gradually and not all at once, so too does the Tathāgata purify away all sentient beings' flux of one's own mind's manifestation, purified gradually and not suddenly. Just as the great earth gradually brings forth the myriad things, and does not bring them forth all at once, so too does the Tathāgata purify away all sentient beings' flux of one's own mind's manifestation, purified gradually and not suddenly. Just as a person learns music, calligraphy and painting, and the manifold arts, mastering them gradually and not all at once, so too does the Tathāgata purify away all sentient beings' flux of one's own mind's manifestation, purified gradually and not suddenly. Just as a bright mirror suddenly, all at once, manifests all the markless color-images, so too does the Tathāgata purify away all sentient beings' flux of one's own mind's manifestation, suddenly, all at once, manifesting that markless, nothing-whatever pure realm. Just as the orbs of sun and moon, all at once, suddenly shine forth and display all the color-images, so too does the Tathāgata, for the sake of those sentient beings who would be apart from the fault of the habit-energy of one's own mind's manifestation, suddenly, all at once, display for them that supreme realm of inconceivable wisdom. Just as the store consciousness, all at once, suddenly discriminates and knows one's own mind's manifestation and the realm of the setting-up and use of the body — so too do those buddhas-of-dependence, all at once, suddenly ripen the realm in which sentient beings dwell, causing those who cultivate practice to abide in the Akaniṣṭha heaven. Just as the buddha-of-dependence conjured forth by the dharma-buddha shines with radiance, so too does the noble resort of self-realization: toward that evil-view false imagining of 'the dharma-marks are existent, are non-existent,' a single shining causes it to be extinguished. Mahāmati! the dharma-buddha-of-dependence expounds all dharmas: he expounds that they enter into the particular mark and the shared mark as the cause that is the habit-energy of one's own mind's manifestation; he expounds that they are the cause of clinging to the nature of false imagining as a continuum; he expounds that they are the manifold unreal illusions, that the manifold clingings are all ungraspable.

Clinging to the nature of conditioned-arising · giving rise to the nature of false imagining · the conjurer-simile · the differences among the three buddhas

Furthermore, Mahāmati! by clinging to the nature of conditioned-arising, the mark of the nature of false imagining is born. Mahāmati! just as that skilled conjurer, relying on grass, wood, tile, and stone, makes the manifold conjured marks, calling forth all sorts of forms and colors of sentient beings, and also gives rise to the manifold false imaginings; yet those false imaginings in truth have no reality. Just so, Mahāmati! in dependence upon the nature of conditioned-arising, the nature of false imagining arises; giving rise to the manifold false-imagining minds and the manifold marks of false imagining that would act upon what is imagined, one clings and so forms the habit-energy of false imagining. Mahāmati! this is the arising of the mark of the nature of false imagining. Mahāmati! this is what is called the dharma expounded by the buddha-of-dependence. Mahāmati! the so-called dharma-buddha is apart from the marks of the self-nature of mind, abides in the realm that is the object of the noble ones' self-realization, and sets up and enacts all things. Mahāmati! the so-called transformation-buddha expounds giving, keeping the precepts, patience, effort, meditative absorption, and mind-and-insight; he causes sentient beings to keep far from the aggregates, elements, and sense-fields, and to loose the discrimination of the marks of consciousness; contemplating, he sets up [the teaching], and passes beyond the views of the outsiders and the views of the formless realm. Mahāmati! again, the so-called dharma-buddha is apart from attachment-to-conditions; the condition-as-subject and the condition-as-object are both left behind; all activity and the marks of the measure of the faculties are extinguished; it is not the realm clung to as a 'self-mark' by the manifold ordinary persons, śrāvakas, pratyekabuddhas, and outsiders, but is set up by the differentiating mark of the ultimate of noble self-realization. Therefore, Mahāmati! this differentiating mark of noble self-realization is to be diligently trained in; and that view which is one's own mind's manifestation should be extinguished."

Technical terms of this division (the two shared distinguishing marks of the śrāvaka-vehicle, the mark of attaining the noble differentiation of self-realization, the mark of clinging to intrinsic nature through false imagining of the natures, the ultimate, the constant-beyond-thought, the store consciousness, the noble wisdom of self-realization) are kept as they stand.

The two shared distinguishing marks of the śrāvaka-vehicle: the mark of attaining the noble differentiation of self-realization · the mark of clinging to intrinsic nature through false imagining of the natures

Furthermore, Mahāmati! there are two distinguishing marks shared by the śrāvaka-vehicle, namely: the mark of attaining the noble differentiation of self-realization, and the mark of clinging to intrinsic nature through false imagining of the natures.

What is meant by the śrāvaka of the mark of attaining the noble differentiation of self-realization? It means this: dwelling in such a realm as impermanence, suffering, emptiness, and no-self; being, with respect to the true truth, apart from craving and quieted; having stilled the particular marks and the shared marks of the aggregates, elements, and sense-fields; knowing, as it truly is, the mark of the outer objects as not breaking apart; and so his mind wins quietude and stilling. His mind having been quieted and stilled, then, within the right receiving and liberation of meditative absorption, liberation, samādhi, and the fruit of the path — yet still not apart from the habit-energy, still not apart from that beyond-thought transmuting birth-and-death — he realizes the noble bliss of self-realization and abides in it. Such a śrāvaka is called the śrāvaka of the mark of attaining the noble differentiation of self-realization.

Mahāmati! the bodhisattva-mahāsattva who [could attain] that bliss of the noble differentiation of self-realization does not go to receive that bliss of the right receiving that is the bliss of the gate of cessation; for out of mindfulness and pity for sentient beings, and not going against his fundamental vow, he does not take this bliss as a realization. Mahāmati! this is called the bliss of the mark of the noble differentiation of self-realization that the śrāvaka attains. The bodhisattva-mahāsattva ought not to train in that bliss of the mark of the noble differentiation of self-realization that the śrāvaka attains.

Mahāmati! what is meant by the śrāvaka of the mark of clinging to intrinsic nature through false imagining of the natures? It means this: the so-called great elements — blue, yellow, red, white; hard, moist, warm, moving — are not produced by contrivance, and each has its particular mark and its shared mark; the surpassing good teaching of before has already said so. This śrāvaka, having seen it, then raises over those great elements and the rest a false imagining of intrinsic nature. The bodhisattva-mahāsattva ought, with respect to such a clinging, to know it and to cast it off, conforming and entering the thought of the no-self of dharmas, and extinguishing the mark-and-view of the no-self of persons; and thereupon the grounds are set up, one after another in sequence, as a continuum. This is called the śrāvakas' mark of clinging to intrinsic nature through false imagining of the natures.

Mahāmati asks: is the constant and the beyond-thought not the causal condition of the constant-beyond-thought of which the outsiders speak?

At that time the bodhisattva-mahāsattva Mahāmati said to the Buddha: "World-Honored One! that 'constant' and 'beyond-thought' of which the World-Honored One speaks — the realm of the noble resort of self-realization and the realm of the ultimate. World-Honored One! is this not, after all, the causal condition of that 'constant-beyond-thought' of which all the outsiders speak?"

The Buddha told Mahāmati: "It is not that 'attained-through-causal-condition' constant-beyond-thought of the outsiders. Why so? The outsiders' constant-beyond-thought is not accomplished by its own mark. If that constant-beyond-thought is not accomplished by its own mark, then by what cause does it show forth its being constant-beyond-thought?

My ultimate is the constant-beyond-thought: accomplished by cause-and-mark · apart from being-and-non-being · attained by the noble wisdom of self-realization

"Furthermore, Mahāmati! if that beyond-thought were accomplished by its own mark, then it ought to be constant; but since it comes by the cause-mark that is a 'maker,' therefore that constant-beyond-thought cannot be established. Mahāmati! the ultimate constant-beyond-thought of which I speak is accomplished by the cause-mark of the ultimate; it is apart from being and non-being; because it attains the mark of self-realization, therefore it has mark. Because it takes the wisdom of the ultimate as its cause, therefore it has cause; and because it is apart from being and non-being, therefore that having-of-cause too is apart from the two extremes. It is as with that uncontrived space, and again as with the extinction-and-cessation of nirvāṇa — therefore it is constant. Just so, Mahāmati! this constant-beyond-thought of mine is not the same as the outsiders' doctrine of the constant-beyond-thought. Just so, Mahāmati! this constant-beyond-thought is what the Tathāgatas realize by the noble wisdom of self-realization; therefore this constant-beyond-thought that is attained by the noble wisdom of self-realization is what one ought to train in.

The outsiders' constant-beyond-thought: it has a nature of impermanence · because it is caused by a differing mark

"Furthermore, Mahāmati! the outsiders' constant-beyond-thought has a nature of impermanence. For because it is caused by a 'differing mark,' it is not by the strength of a cause-mark that is its own doing that it comes to be constant.

The outsiders reckon the constant out of the impermanent · the same as a hare's horn · the Buddha's constant attains its mark by self-realization

"Furthermore, Mahāmati! the outsiders' constant-beyond-thought is [reckoned] upon the 'non-being, impermanence' of what is contrived — having seen [that], they ponder and reckon it to be constant. Mahāmati! I too, by just such a causal condition — upon the non-being, the impermanence, of the nature of what is contrived — having seen [it], yet within the realm of the noble wisdom of self-realization, speak of that 'constant' as being without cause. Mahāmati! if the outsiders were to say that their constant-beyond-thought is a constant accomplished by cause-and-mark, then, since the own-mark of that cause is [both] being and non-being (now existent, now not), it would be the same as a hare's horn. Such a constant-beyond-thought is nothing but the false imagining of words. The outsiders and their kind have just such a fault. Why so? Because it is merely the false imagining of words, the same as a hare's horn, and upon their own posited cause-mark it simply cannot be accomplished. Mahāmati! my constant-beyond-thought is, because it attains its mark by self-realization, and because it is apart from the being and non-being of what is contrived. This constant is not a constant pondered and reckoned upon 'outer being, non-being, and impermanence.' Mahāmati! if there is again someone who, upon that 'outer being, non-being, and impermanence,' ponders and reckons a constant, taking it to be the constant of the constant-beyond-thought, while he in fact does not know the mark of the 'own-cause' of the constant-beyond-thought — then he is very far from the mark of that 'realm attained by the noble wisdom of self-realization.' He ought not to speak thus.

The śrāvakas fear suffering and seek nirvāṇa · they do not resort to the store consciousness and turn

"Furthermore, Mahāmati! the śrāvakas, fearing the suffering of the false imagining of birth-and-death, seek nirvāṇa, and do not know that the difference between birth-and-death and nirvāṇa is [that they are] all a false imagining of the natures, without intrinsic nature at all. They take the resting of the future sense-faculties and their objects to be their thought of nirvāṇa, and this is not the noble wisdom of self-realization resorting to the store consciousness and turning there. And on this account those foolish common folk speak of there being three vehicles, and speak of what the 'measure of mind' resorts to as being nothing whatever. Therefore, Mahāmati! they do not know the realm that is one's own mind's manifestation, [the manifestation] of the Tathāgatas of past, future, and present, but cling to the realm manifested outside the mind, and thereupon the wheel of birth-and-death turns on, constant and unbroken."

Technical terms of this division (all dharmas non-arising, one's own mind's manifestation, the five uninterrupted lineages, the śrāvaka vehicle, the pratyekabuddha vehicle, the Tathāgata vehicle, the indeterminate lineage, the separate lineage, the icchantika, the three natures, the imagined nature, the dependent nature, the truly-perfected nature, the Tathāgata-womb mind, the no-self of persons, the no-self of dharmas) are kept as they stand.

All dharmas are non-arising: because they are one's own mind's manifestation, apart from arising as existent or non-existent

"Furthermore, Mahāmati! that all dharmas are non-arising is what the Tathāgatas of past, future, and present alike have declared. Why is this said? Because all dharmas are only what one's own mind manifests; their nature is not a really-existent nature, being from the first apart from 'existence' and apart from 'non-existence' in what is called arising. Mahāmati! all natures are non-arising, and all dharmas are like the hare's horns, the horse's horns, and their kind — things that have never been — this being only the deluded common person's unreal false imagining, falsely clinging to them as intrinsic nature. Mahāmati! that all dharmas are non-arising is a matter within the ranging-ground into which self-realizing noble wisdom enters: in that ranging-ground, all natures and the marks of all intrinsic natures are non-arising, and it is not the ranging-ground of the two extremes of 'existence' and 'non-existence' that the deluded person's false imagining reckons. Common persons, however, relying on their own body and on possessions, set up all manner of resorts, grasping at the mark of intrinsic nature. Mahāmati! the store consciousness holds and sustains, and the marks of the grasping and the grasped arise from one another turn and turn about; the deluded person then falls into the two-extreme view of 'arising, abiding, and ceasing,' longing with all his heart for all natures truly to have their arising. Thus, upon 'existence' and 'non-existence,' he falsely imagines and gives rise to reckoning and clinging — and this is not the ranging-ground of the worthy and the noble. Mahāmati! in this matter you should train well.

The five uninterrupted lineages: the three vehicles · the indeterminate · the separate

"Furthermore, Mahāmati! there are five kinds of uninterrupted lineage. Which five? They are: the uninterrupted lineage of the śrāvaka vehicle, the uninterrupted lineage of the pratyekabuddha vehicle, the uninterrupted lineage of the Tathāgata vehicle, the indeterminate lineage, and the separate lineage.

"How is one to know the uninterrupted lineage of the śrāvaka vehicle? When such a person hears it said that, concerning the particular marks and the shared marks of the aggregates, elements, and sense-fields, there is what can be cut off and what can be known — then the pores over his whole body grow bright with delight, and he takes pleasure in cultivating 'the knowledge of marks,' but does not cultivate the mark of 'awakening through the dependent-arising' — this is called the uninterrupted lineage of the śrāvaka vehicle. The śrāvaka of the uninterrupted lineage, on reaching the eighth ground, gives rise to the cutting-off of the afflictions, yet the affliction of the habit-energy is not cut off; he cannot cross beyond the inconceivable transformational birth-and-death, but crosses only the birth-and-death of allotment and division. He rightly makes the lion's roar: 'My births are exhausted, the holy life is established, I shall not receive further existence.' Knowing this as it truly is, he cultivates the no-self of persons, and reaches at last the awakening of parinirvāṇa. Mahāmati! as for the separate uninterrupted lineage, it is thus: there are those who cling to there being a self, a person, a sentient being, a life-span, a nourisher, a man; these beings frame such a notion and go seeking parinirvāṇa. And there are others, the outsiders, who say that all is made by a single maker; and, having seen all natures, they say: 'This is parinirvāṇa.' They frame such a notion — but of the right view of 'the no-self of dharmas' they have no portion, and they have no liberation. Mahāmati! these — the uninterrupted lineage of the śrāvaka vehicle, and the lineage of the outsiders — are, in a place that is not yet a going-forth, framing the notion of a going-forth. In order to turn them from this evil view, one should train well.

"Mahāmati! as for the uninterrupted lineage of the pratyekabuddha vehicle: when such a person hears it said, of the manifold several conditions and of the uninterruptedness of condition upon condition, then the hairs over his whole body stand up and he weeps and sheds tears; toward the manifold conditions of the world he does not draw near, and to any and all things he does not cling; and when he further hears of the manifold matters of one's own body, of the manifold spiritual penetrations, of parting or joining, and of the manifold transformations — hearing these, his mind enters in accordingly. If it is known that this person is of the uninterrupted lineage of the pratyekabuddha vehicle, then following along with him one expounds for him the vehicle of the pratyekabuddha — this is called the mark of the uninterrupted lineage of the pratyekabuddha vehicle.

"Mahāmati! the uninterrupted lineage of the Tathāgata vehicle has four kinds, namely: the uninterrupted lineage of the dharma of intrinsic nature, the uninterrupted lineage of the dharma apart from particular marks, the uninterrupted lineage of the attainment of self-realizing nobility, and the uninterrupted lineage of the surpassing splendor of outer buddha-lands. Mahāmati! when such a person hears these four matters, each expounded for him, and when there is expounded for him 'the inconceivable ranging-ground that is set up in reliance on body and on possessions, one's own mind's manifestation,' his mind is neither startled nor terrified — this is called the mark of the uninterrupted lineage of the Tathāgata vehicle.

"Mahāmati! as for the indeterminate lineage, it means: when those three kinds of lineage are expounded for him, he enters according to what is expounded and is accomplished according to what is expounded. Mahāmati! this is for the one who first sets to work upon his ground: the setting-up of the lineages, that is, is made in this way in order to bring him up and into the 'ground of nothing whatever.' As for that self-realizing store — namely the person who, his own affliction of the habit-energy purified, has seen the no-self of dharmas and, winning the bliss of samādhi, abides on the śrāvaka ground — he too shall, in time to come, win the Tathāgata's most excellent body."

At that time the World-Honored One, wishing to restate this meaning, spoke in verse:

　　The fruits of the stream-enterer, the once-returner and the non-returner,
　　on down to the winning of arhatship — the minds of all these are still in delusion.
　　The three vehicles and the one vehicle — in truth there is no 'vehicle'; that is my skillful telling;
　　the deluded are scant in wisdom, and the noble ones, far withdrawn, come home to stillness.
　　The gateway of the supreme meaning is far removed from that teaching of 'two';
　　abiding in the place of nothing whatever — what 'three vehicles' are there left to set up?
　　The meditations, the boundless minds and the rest, on to the samādhis of the formless realm,
　　where feeling and perception are stilled away — there too is no more measuring of mind.

"Mahāmati! that which is called an 'icchantika' is in truth not an icchantika; then who is it, in worldly dharmas and in liberation, that turns? Mahāmati! the icchantika is of two kinds. The first is the one who has cast off all roots of goodness, and who had once made a vow concerning the sentient beings of beginningless time. How is 'casting off all roots of goodness' to be understood? It is slandering the bodhisattva-basket, and making such an evil utterance as: 'These do not accord with the teaching of the sūtras, the vinaya, and liberation.' Because he has cast off all roots of goodness, he does not enter parinirvāṇa. The second is the bodhisattva who, out of his own vow and by skillful means, does not — it is not that he does not — enter parinirvāṇa: it is that, in order to bring all sentient beings to parinirvāṇa, he himself does not enter. Mahāmati! his 'parinirvāṇa' of this kind is what is called the dharma-mark of 'not entering parinirvāṇa.' This too counts as one class of the icchantika."

Mahāmati said to the Buddha: "World-Honored One! Among these, which is the one who finally does not enter parinirvāṇa?"

The Buddha told Mahāmati: "That bodhisattva-icchantika, knowing that all dharmas are from the first parinirvāṇa, finally does not enter parinirvāṇa — and it is not the icchantika who has cast off all roots of goodness. Mahāmati! as for the icchantika who has cast off all roots of goodness — again, by the Tathāgata's spiritual power, his roots of goodness may at some time yet be reborn. Why is this said? Because the Tathāgata does not cast off any sentient being. For this reason, it is the bodhisattva-icchantika who does not enter parinirvāṇa.

The three natures: imagined · dependent · truly-perfected — the truly-perfected nature is the Tathāgata-womb mind

"Furthermore, Mahāmati! the bodhisattva-mahāsattva should be well-versed in the three natures. Which are the three natures? They are: the imagined nature, the dependent nature, and the truly-perfected nature. Mahāmati! the imagined nature arises from marks."

Mahāmati said to the Buddha: "World-Honored One! how is it that the imagined nature arises from marks?"

The Buddha told Mahāmati: "Upon that thing-mark of the dependent nature and that thing-mark manifested by activity, reckoning and clinging arise, and there come to be two kinds of imagined nature — these are what the Tathāgata, the Worthy One, the Perfectly Awakened One has set up, namely: the mark of clinging to name, and the mark of clinging to the thing. That which is called the mark of clinging to name means the arising of reckoning and clinging toward the inner and outer dharmas; that which is called the mark of clinging to the thing means the arising of reckoning and clinging toward the particular mark and the shared mark of those very inner and outer [dharmas]. These are called the two kinds of mark of the imagined nature. That which arises upon a support and a condition is called the dependent. What is the truly-perfected nature? It is that which is apart from the false imagining of name-mark and thing-mark — what is won by noble wisdom, and the ranging-ground into which self-realizing noble wisdom enters and ranges — this is called the truly-perfected nature, which is also the Tathāgata-womb mind."

At that time the World-Honored One, wishing to restate this meaning, spoke in verse:

　　Name, mark, and the reckoning-notion — these are the two marks of the imagined nature;
　　right knowledge and suchness-as-such — those, then, are the mark of the truly-perfected nature.

"Mahāmati! this is called the scripture of 'contemplating the marks of the five dharmas and the natures,' the ranging-ground into which self-realizing noble wisdom enters and ranges. You bodhisattva-mahāsattvas should train well in it.

"Furthermore, Mahāmati! the bodhisattva-mahāsattva should contemplate well the marks of the two kinds of no-self. Which are the two marks of no-self? They are: the no-self of persons, and the no-self of dharmas. How is the no-self of persons to be understood? It is this: being apart from 'self and what belongs to self,' apart from the coming-together of the aggregates, elements, and sense-fields. Sentient beings arise from not-knowing, deed, and craving; through the grasping and clinging of eye and form and the rest, consciousness arises; all the faculties, together with the vessel-realm, the body, and the like that one's own mind manifests and stores away, are all set up and displayed by the marks of one's own false imagining. It is like the flow of a river's water, like a seed, like a lamp, like the wind, like a cloud — moment by moment turning and perishing. Its restlessness is like a monkey's, its delight in an unclean place like a fly's, its want of any contentment like a wind-driven fire; and, with the beginningless false and hollow habit-energy for its cause, it is like the wheel that draws up water. It revolves round through the destinies of birth-and-death, showing forth manifold bodily forms and colors, like a conjuring-trick, like things wrought by a spell, and again like an image that rises up when a device is set in motion. Being well able to understand these marks is called the knowledge of the no-self of persons. How is the knowledge of the no-self of dharmas to be understood? It is this: awakening to the fact that the aggregates, elements, and sense-fields are from the first marks of false imagining and are suchness in their own nature; that the aggregates, elements, and sense-fields are all apart from 'self and what belongs to self.' The heap of aggregates, elements, and sense-fields is bound by the cords of deed and craving, and arises from one another turn and turn about in dependence, while its arising is from the first without any stirring. And all dharmas too are thus, apart from particular mark and shared mark. That unreal mark of false imagining, that force of false imagining, is what the common person gives rise to, and is not the ranging-ground of the noble and the worthy — because mind, mentation, and mental consciousness, and the five dharmas and the natures, are from the first apart. Mahāmati! the bodhisattva-mahāsattva should discern well 'the no-self of all dharmas.' The bodhisattva-mahāsattva who knows well the no-self of dharmas will before long win the 'contemplation of nothing whatever' of the bodhisattva's first ground. Through the contemplation of the marks of the grounds, awakening and understanding, he gives rise to gladness; and, advancing gradually in sequence, passing beyond the marks of the ninth ground, he wins the Dharma-Cloud Ground. There he sets up a great jewel-lotus-king throne adorned with measureless jeweled places, and a great jeweled palace — a thing born of the cultivation of the ranging-ground of the 'illusion-nature' — and takes his seat within it. He has as his retinue those most excellent buddha-sons, all of one and the same kind, encircling him; and from all the buddha-fields they come to consecrate him with the buddhas' hands, just as a wheel-turning holy king consecrates his crown prince. He passes beyond the ground of the buddha-sons and reaches the resort into which self-realizing noble dharma enters, and shall then win the Tathāgata's sovereign dharma-body. Because he has seen the no-self of dharmas — this is called the mark of the no-self of dharmas. You bodhisattva-mahāsattvas should train well in it."

Technical terms of this division (affirmation, denial, affirming-as-existent-what-is-not-existent, the aggregates-elements-sense-fields, particular and shared mark, mind-mentation-consciousness, the five dharmas, the intrinsic natures, the twofold no-self, the manifestation-only of one's own mind, the wish-fulfilling jewel, the seven kinds of emptiness, non-arising, non-duality, being apart from the mark of intrinsic nature) are kept as they stand.

〔Question〕Mahāmati asks for the teaching on the aspect of affirmation and denial · the World-Honored One speaks in verse

At that time the bodhisattva-mahāsattva Mahāmati again said to the Buddha: "World-Honored One! That aspect of 'affirmation' and 'denial' — would that you would teach it to me. So that I and the bodhisattva-mahāsattvas might be apart from the two-extreme evil view of 'affirmation' and 'denial,' and might swiftly realize unsurpassed perfect awakening. Having awakened, we should then be apart from the affirmation that falls into 'eternalism' and the denial that falls into 'annihilation,' and should deny the true dharma no more."

At that time the World-Honored One, having received the bodhisattva Mahāmati's request, spoke in verse:

　　Affirmation and denial, these two —　truly neither has left the measure of mind;
　　the body and its enjoyments, once affirmed,　even one's own mind cannot truly know them;
　　only from folly, from being without wisdom,　come this affirmation and this denial.

At that time the World-Honored One, wishing to make the meaning of this verse plain once more, told Mahāmati: "There are four kinds of 'affirming-as-existent-what-is-not-existent.' Which four? They are: the affirmation of a mark that is not existent, the affirmation of a view that is not existent, the affirmation of a cause that is not existent, and the affirmation of a nature that is not existent. These are called the four kinds of affirmation. As for what is called 'denial': it means that, upon that affirmed dharma, one seeks it and obtains nothing whatever; contemplating beyond one's measure, one thereupon gives rise to denial. This is called the aspect of affirmation and denial.

The four kinds of affirming what is not existent · apart from the two-extreme evil view

"Furthermore, Mahāmati! what is called 'the aspect of affirming a mark that is not existent'? It is that, upon the five aggregates, the eighteen elements, and the twelve sense-fields — which are without their particular mark and their shared mark — one nonetheless gives rise to reckoning and clinging, saying 'this is just so,' saying 'this is nothing other.' This is called the aspect of affirming a mark that is not existent. This affirmation of a mark that is not existent is a false imagining; it is the fault of falsity from beginningless time; it arises from the reckoning and clinging of the manifold habit-energies. Mahāmati! what is called 'the aspect of affirming a view that is not existent' is that, upon those five aggregates, eighteen elements, and twelve sense-fields, one affirms the views of a 'self,' a 'person,' a 'sentient being,' a 'life-span,' a 'nourisher,' a 'man,' and the like — this is called the aspect of affirming a view that is not existent. Mahāmati! what is called 'the aspect of affirming a cause that is not existent' is that the very first consciousness is in truth arisen from no cause, and thereafter too is unreal, illusion-like, and originally non-arising; it is only from the eye-faculty meeting with the form-object and the eye-consciousness-element, together with the continuity of the preceding moment, that it arises — and having arisen, and being real, it then perishes again. This is called the aspect of affirming a cause that is not existent. Mahāmati! what is called 'the aspect of affirming a nature that is not existent' is that, upon space, upon cessation, upon parinirvāṇa, upon what is not made by any doing, one reckons and clings that it has a 'nature' and sets it up as an affirmation. These are in truth apart from 'having nature' and also apart from 'having no nature'; all dharmas are like hare's horns and horse's horns (fundamentally without, yet falsely reckoned), like the aspect of falling hairs appearing (falsely seen by a film-covered eye), apart from 'being' and also apart from 'non-being' — this is called the aspect of affirming a nature that is not existent. This affirmation and this denial are both the false imagining of the foolish common person; they are because one is unable to contemplate skillfully the manifestation-only of one's own mind — this is not the state of the noble and worthy. Therefore one ought to be apart from this evil view of affirmation and denial, and train well.

Fully knowing mind, mentation, consciousness · making all sorts of forms of images

"Furthermore, Mahāmati! the bodhisattva-mahāsattva fully knows the aspects of mind, mentation, consciousness, the five dharmas, the intrinsic natures, and the twofold no-self, and heads toward the ultimate. For the sake of settling sentient beings he makes all sorts of forms of images, just as the false-imagining nature manifests in dependence upon dependent-arising. It is like that wish-fulfilling jewel which mirrors forth the manifold colors: it universally manifests all the buddha-fields of all the buddhas, manifests the great assemblies of all the Tathāgatas, and sentient beings, all within it, hear and receive the teaching of the scripture. That is to say, all dharmas are like an illusion, like a dream, like light and shadow, like the moon in water; and upon all dharmas he is apart from arising-and-ceasing, apart from annihilation-and-eternalism, and apart too from the dharma of the śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas; thus does he realize a hundred thousand kinds of samādhi, up to a hundred thousand koṭis of nayutas of samādhis. Having won the samādhis, he then roams the buddha-fields and makes offerings to the buddhas. He is born in the palaces of the various heavens, and there proclaims the Three Jewels — the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Saṅgha. He manifests the buddha-body, surrounded by great assemblies of śrāvakas and bodhisattvas, and by the manifestation-only of his own mind he liberates sentient beings, expounding in discrimination the principle that 'the outer object has no nature,' and causing sentient beings, one and all, to be far apart from the views of 'being,' 'non-being,' and the rest."

At that time the World-Honored One, wishing to proclaim this meaning once more, spoke in verse:

　　This world is but what the measure of mind manifests;　let the buddha-son contemplate it so.
　　A body of every kind and sort,　apart from the doings of contrivance,
　　then wins the power of the spiritual penetrations,　sovereign and accomplished.

At that time the bodhisattva-mahāsattva Mahāmati again made request of the Buddha, saying: "Would that the World-Honored One would expound for us: that all dharmas are empty, are non-arising, are non-dual, are apart from the mark of intrinsic nature. When I and the rest of the bodhisattva host have awakened to this 'empty, non-arising, non-dual, apart from the mark of intrinsic nature,' we should then be apart from the false imagining of 'being' and 'non-being,' and should swiftly realize unsurpassed perfect awakening."

The seven kinds of emptiness · non-arising · non-duality · apart from the mark of intrinsic nature

At that time the World-Honored One told the bodhisattva-mahāsattva Mahāmati: "Listen well! Listen well! And ponder it well. Now I shall for your sake expound it, adding discrimination at length."

Mahāmati said to the Buddha: "Very good, World-Honored One! I shall surely listen to and receive your teaching."

The Buddha told Mahāmati: "As for what is called 'the emptiness of emptiness' — it is just the very place of the false-imagining nature. Mahāmati! it is for the sake of those who reckon and cling to the false-imagining nature that 'empty, non-arising, non-dual, apart from the mark of intrinsic nature' is taught. Mahāmati! that emptiness, stated in brief, has seven kinds. They are: the emptiness of mark, the emptiness of the nature that is intrinsic nature, the emptiness of what is conditioned, the emptiness of the unconditioned, the emptiness that is all dharmas being apart from speech, the emptiness of the great emptiness of the supreme-meaning noble wisdom, and this-and-that emptiness. What is called 'the emptiness of mark'? It means that the particular mark and the shared mark of all dharmas are empty, on account of contemplating that they come to be by successive accumulation; discriminating them, there is no self-nature, and their particular mark and shared mark alike do not arise. Self and other, the two, are alike without self-nature, and so the mark does not abide — therefore it is said that the mark of all dharmas is empty. This is called the emptiness of mark. What is called 'the emptiness of the nature that is intrinsic nature'? It means that one's own nature, the intrinsic nature, is fundamentally non-arising — this is called the emptiness, of all dharmas, of the nature that is intrinsic nature. Therefore it is said, the emptiness of the nature that is intrinsic nature. What is called 'the emptiness of what is conditioned'? It means that the five aggregates are apart from 'self' and 'what belongs to self,' and are brought to be by causes, by the karma one does, and by expedient means. This is called the emptiness of what is conditioned. Mahāmati! it is just this emptiness of what is conditioned, wherein, through the successive dependent-arising, the self-nature is fundamentally without self-nature — this is called the emptiness of the unconditioned. What is called 'the emptiness that is all dharmas being apart from speech'? It means that the false-imagining nature is fundamentally without speech, and so all dharmas are apart from speech — this is called the emptiness that is all dharmas being apart from speech. What is called 'the emptiness of the great emptiness of the supreme-meaning noble wisdom of all dharmas'? It means that, having realized the noble wisdom of self-awakening, the fault-habit-energy of all views is emptied — this is called the emptiness of the great emptiness of the supreme-meaning noble wisdom of all dharmas. What is called 'this-and-that emptiness'? It means that, in that one place there being not this one thing, it is said to be empty of it — this is called this-and-that emptiness. Mahāmati! it is as with the lecture-hall of Mṛgāra's Mother: there being within it no elephants, horses, oxen, sheep, and the like, yet it not being without the community of bhikṣus, it is thereby said that hall is empty. This is not to say that the hall's 'hall-nature' is emptied, nor to say that the bhikṣus' 'bhikṣu-nature' is emptied, nor to say that in some other place there are no elephants or horses — this is called the particular mark of all dharmas. It is just that, in that one place there being not that one thing, this is called this-and-that emptiness. These are the seven kinds of emptiness. This this-and-that emptiness is the coarsest and shallowest kind among the emptinesses, and you ought to be far apart from it. Mahāmati! it is neither self-arising nor non-arising, save at the time of abiding in samādhi — this is called non-arising. Apart from intrinsic nature is likewise just non-arising. Apart from the moment-by-moment continuity of the flux of intrinsic nature and the manifesting of the differing-nature, all dharmas are apart from intrinsic nature; therefore it is said, all dharmas are apart from intrinsic nature. What is called 'non-duality'? It means that all dharmas are like cold and hot, like long and short, like black and white (set up in mutual dependence). Mahāmati! all dharmas being non-dual is not that outside of nirvāṇa there is separately that birth-and-death, nor that outside of birth-and-death there is separately that nirvāṇa. It is only because their differing aspects each have their nature (that duality is provisionally said to be), and this is called non-duality. As with nirvāṇa and birth-and-death, so too are all dharmas. Therefore 'empty, non-arising, non-dual, apart from the mark of intrinsic nature' — one ought to train well in this."

At that time the World-Honored One, wishing to proclaim this meaning once more, spoke in verse:

　　I ever teach this one dharma, 'emptiness,'　to keep [beings] far from annihilation and eternalism;
　　birth-and-death, though illusion-like, dream-like,　yet the retribution of that karma is not destroyed.
　　Space and nirvāṇa,　and that 'cessation' — these two are so as well;
　　the foolish give rise to false imagining upon them,　but the noble are apart from 'being' and 'non-being.'

At that time the World-Honored One again told the bodhisattva-mahāsattva Mahāmati: "Mahāmati! this 'empty, non-arising, non-dual, apart from the mark of intrinsic nature' universally enters all the scriptures of all the buddhas. Whatever scriptures there are, all teach this one meaning. The scriptures, all of them, are for the sake of the minds-that-hope of sentient beings, discriminated and taught and their meaning displayed to them; yet this meaning does not, in truth, reside just in the speech. It is like that thirsty deer that, seeing the imagining of a mirage, is deceived and deluded. The deer, upon that mark of the mirage, reckons and clings that it has a 'water-nature'; yet there is no water there at all. Just so, the manifold dharmas taught in all the scriptures are for the sake of causing the foolish common person to give rise to gladness; that true noble wisdom does not reside just in the speech. Therefore one ought to rely upon the meaning, and not cling to the speech."

Technical terms of this division (the Tathāgata-womb, the thirty-two marks, the aggregates-elements-sense-fields, the three gates of liberation, one's own mind's manifestation, the naturelessness of outer natures, the forbearance of the non-arising of dharmas, the eighth bodhisattva ground, mind-mentation-consciousness, the five dharmas, the [three] intrinsic natures, the twofold no-self, the mind-made body, inner and outer conditions, the six causes, the four kinds of false-imagining speech, the ultimate truth, the four kinds of meditation, the Tathāgata's meditation) are kept as they stand.

The Tathāgata-womb is not the outsiders' self · the potter's one clay makes many vessels

At that time the bodhisattva-mahāsattva Mahāmati said to the Buddha: "World-Honored One! In the sūtras the World-Honored One says that the Tathāgata-womb is by nature pure, that it turns forth the thirty-two marks and enters into the bodies of all sentient beings, like a great and precious jewel wrapped in soiled cloth. The Tathāgata's womb abides constant and does not change, and it is just so — yet it is wrapped in the soiled cloth of the aggregates, elements, and sense-fields, and defiled by the unreal false-imagining dust-and-toil of greed, hatred, and delusion. This is what all the buddhas expound. How then, World-Honored One, do you speak just as the outsiders do of a 'self,' saying there is a Tathāgata-womb? World-Honored One! The outsiders too speak of a self that is constant, that is an agent able to act, that is apart from all qualities, that pervades all and does not perish. World-Honored One! What they speak of is a 'self.'"

The Buddha told Mahāmati: "The Tathāgata-womb of which I speak is not the same as the 'self' the outsiders speak of. Mahāmati! At times I speak of emptiness, of markless­ness, of wishlessness, of suchness, of the true limit, of the dharma-nature, of the dharma-body, of nirvāṇa, of being apart from intrinsic nature, of neither arising nor ceasing, of original quiescence, of intrinsic nirvāṇa — with names and phrases such as these, all of which in truth speak of the Tathāgata-womb. The Tathāgata, the Worthy One, the Perfectly Awakened One, in order to cut off the foolish person's dread of the phrase 'no self,' speaks of the Tathāgata-womb gate, the realm apart from false imagining where nothing whatever is [to be found]. Mahāmati! The bodhisattva-mahāsattvas of future and present times should not, in this, cling to a 'view of self.' It is as when a potter, upon a single lump of clay, by such means as hand-labor, water, wood, the wheel, and the cord, makes vessels of every kind. The Tathāgata is just so: within 'the no-self of dharmas,' apart from all marks of false imagining, by every kind of wisdom, skill, and means, he at times speaks of the Tathāgata-womb and at times speaks of no-self. It is for this reason that the Tathāgata-womb of which he speaks is not the same as the 'self' the outsiders speak of. This is what is called the speaking of the Tathāgata-womb. In order to guide and draw in those outsiders who cling to a 'self,' he speaks of the Tathāgata-womb, so as to make them leave behind the unreal false imagining of a 'view of self,' enter the realm of the three gates of liberation, and long earnestly to win quickly the supreme, perfect, complete awakening — and therefore does the Tathāgata, the Worthy One, the Perfectly Awakened One, make this teaching, speaking of a Tathāgata's womb. Were it not so, it would be the same as the 'self' the outsiders speak of. Therefore, Mahāmati! in order to leave behind the outsiders' views, one should rely upon this Tathāgata's womb that is 'no-self.'"

At that time the World-Honored One, wishing to restate this meaning, spoke in verse:

　　The person, the continuum, the aggregates,　conditions and the atoms of dust,
　　the Supremely-Fine, the Sovereign that acts —
　　all are but false imagining upon the measure of mind.

The four dharmas of practice · the mind-made body

At that time the bodhisattva-mahāsattva Mahāmati, contemplating the sentient beings of the time to come, again asked the World-Honored One: "We beg you to expound for us 'the ceaselessness of practice' — the great skillful means of the bodhisattva-mahāsattvas who cultivate practice."

The Buddha told Mahāmati: "When the bodhisattva-mahāsattva accomplishes four dharmas, he wins the great skillful means of the practitioner. Which four? They are: being skilled in discerning the manifestation of one's own mind; observing that the nature of outer objects is without nature; leaving behind the view of arising, abiding, and ceasing; and winning the excellent bliss of the noble wisdom of self-realization. These are called the four dharmas which, when the bodhisattva-mahāsattva accomplishes them, win him the great skillful means of the practitioner. What is it for the bodhisattva-mahāsattva to be skilled in discerning the manifestation of one's own mind? It is to contemplate in this way: that the three realms are but the measure of mind, apart from 'self' and 'what belongs to self,' without motion, apart from coming and going, perfumed by the beginningless false habit-energy, bound by the manifold forms and activities of the three realms — and that the setting-up of body and possessions is all the entering and manifesting that follows upon false imagining. This is called the bodhisattva-mahāsattva's being skilled in discerning the manifestation of one's own mind. What is it for the bodhisattva-mahāsattva to be skilled in observing that the nature of outer objects is without nature? It is this: that the natures of the mirage, the dream, and all the rest have for their cause the beginningless unreal false-imagining habit-energy — and so to contemplate the intrinsic nature of all natures. When the bodhisattva-mahāsattva contemplates thus, well observing that the nature of outer objects is without nature, this is called the bodhisattva-mahāsattva's being skilled in [seeing] the naturelessness of outer natures. What is it for the bodhisattva-mahāsattva to be skilled in leaving behind the view of arising, abiding, and ceasing? It is this: that the natures of all things, like an illusion, like a dream, are unborn of self and of other, because [all this] follows upon the entering into the measure of one's own mind. Seeing that the nature of outer objects is without nature, seeing that consciousness in truth does not arise and its objective support does not accumulate, seeing that false imagining arises following upon conditions — thereupon, among all the inner and outer dharmas of the three realms, nothing whatever is to be found. Seeing that they are apart from intrinsic nature, the view of 'arising' is wholly extinguished; and knowing that the intrinsic nature of all dharmas is illusion-like and so forth, one wins the forbearance of the non-arising of dharmas. Having won the forbearance of the non-arising of dharmas, one has left behind the view of arising, abiding, and ceasing. This is called the bodhisattva-mahāsattva's being skilled in discerning, in leaving behind the view of arising, abiding, and ceasing. What is it for the bodhisattva-mahāsattva to win the excellent bliss of the noble wisdom of self-realization? It is this: that having won the forbearance of the non-arising of dharmas, abiding on the eighth bodhisattva ground, one wins [the state] apart from the marks of mind, mentation, mental consciousness, the five dharmas, the intrinsic natures, and the twofold no-self, and wins the mind-made body."

"World-Honored One! By what cause and condition is what is called the 'mind-made body'?"

The Buddha told Mahāmati: "As for what is called 'mind-made': it is like the going of thought, swift and without hindrance, and therefore called mind-made. It is like the going of thought — even a stone wall cannot bar it, and it reaches to another quarter measureless leagues away — because what one has seen before, held fast in memory and not forgotten, flows on unbroken in the continuum of one's own mind, and so arises upon the body without hindrance. Mahāmati! Such a mind-made body is won all at once, all together. The mind-made body of the bodhisattva-mahāsattva is the sovereign spiritual penetration formed by the power of the samādhi of illusion, adorned with wondrous marks, that body of the noble kinds, arising all at once, all together. It is like the arising of thought, without hindrance, following upon the realm of the fundamental vow held in memory, in order to bring sentient beings to ripeness, that one wins the excellent bliss of the noble wisdom of self-realization. Such a bodhisattva-mahāsattva, having won the forbearance of the non-arising of dharmas, abiding on the eighth bodhisattva ground, casts off that body which is the marks of mind, mentation, mental consciousness, the five dharmas, the intrinsic natures, and the twofold no-self, and moreover wins the mind-made body, and wins the excellent bliss of the noble wisdom of self-realization. This is called the four dharmas which, when the bodhisattva-mahāsattva accomplishes them, win him the great skillful means of the practitioner. Thus should one train."

The marks of the condition-and-cause of all dharmas · inner and outer conditions · the six causes

At that time the bodhisattva-mahāsattva Mahāmati again asked the World-Honored One: "We beg you to expound for us the marks of the condition and the cause of all dharmas, for by awakening to the marks of condition and cause, I and the bodhisattvas will be able to leave behind the false view of 'being' and 'non-being' regarding the nature of all things; and that right view which does not fall into false imagining will then, in due sequence, arise all together."

The Buddha told Mahāmati: "All dharmas have two kinds of condition-mark, namely outer conditions and inner conditions. As for the outer condition: it is such means-conditions as the clay-lump, the stick, the wheel, the cord, water, wood, and hand-labor, whereby a pot comes to be. As with clay making a pot, thread making cloth, grass making a mat, seed making a sprout, milk-curds making butter and the rest — all arising by means-conditions — so likewise is it. This is called the outer condition, that arises in the turning-forth of before and after. What is it to be an inner condition? It is that such dharmas as not-knowing, craving, and action win the name of 'condition'; and that from these there arise the aggregates, elements, and sense-fields, which win the name of 'that arisen from conditions.' In truth there is no distinction among them; it is only that the foolish person there falls to false imagining. This is called the inner-condition dharma. Mahāmati! As for the 'cause,' there are six kinds, namely: the cause of coming-to-be, the cause of the continuum, the cause of the mark, the cause of the maker, the cause of the manifesting, and the cause of the waiting. As for the cause of coming-to-be: once this maker-cause is present, the inner and outer dharmas arise. As for the cause of the continuum: once this objective grasping is made, the inner and outer dharmas give rise to the seeds of the aggregates and the rest. As for the cause of the mark: it makes the mark of no-interval, causing [things] to arise in continuum. As for the cause of the maker: it makes the deed of dominance, like a wheel-turning sovereign king. As for the cause of the manifesting: once the deed of false imagining arises, the mark appears and produces what is produced, as a lamp lights up the colors and the rest. As for the cause of the waiting: at the time of ceasing, it makes the cutting-off of the continuum, causing that nature which is without false imagining to arise. Mahāmati! Those foolish persons in whom the marks of false imagining arise of themselves hold that 'it is not by sequence that things arise,' and again hold that 'it is not all-at-once that things arise.' Why so? If it were said that they arise all at once together, then maker and made could not be told apart, and the mark of 'cause' would not be found; if it were said that they arise in sequence, then the mark of that 'self' would not be found. This arising-in-sequence is in truth no arising — as, before a son has been born, there is no name of 'father.' Mahāmati! To speak of 'the means of a continuum arising in sequence' will not hold; it is but false imagining. For they arise, giving rise to what is produced, by objective grasping, by sequence, by dominant-condition and the rest. Mahāmati! This arising-in-sequence is in truth no arising, because of the clinging-mark upon the nature of false imagining. And that 'sequence' and 'all-at-once' are both no-arising is because these are, in truth, the received-and-used manifestation of one's own mind. The outer objects of particular mark and shared mark are in their nature without nature. Mahāmati! To say that 'sequence' and 'all-at-once' are both no-arising is to say that, apart from the manifestation of one's own mind, there is no other thing whatever; it is only because one does not awaken to this being false imagining that the mark arises. Therefore, as for the means-mark of 'cause-and-condition doing its deed,' one should leave behind these two views of 'sequence' and 'all-at-once.'"

At that time the World-Honored One, wishing to restate this meaning, spoke in verse:

　　Nothing whatever comes to arise,　nor is there any ceasing of cause-and-condition;
　　yet within that arising-and-ceasing　there arises the thought of 'cause-and-condition.'
　　I do not shut off that 'having-ceased-it-arises-again';　it is only that the continuum is itself condition-arisen,
　　and I speak thus solely to cut off the common fool,　to cut off the condition of deluded false imagining.
　　'Being' and 'non-being,' these condition-arisen dharmas,　are one and all without arising;
　　it is only that, deluded by habit-energy, they turn,　and thereupon the three existences appear.
　　In truth there is no condition of arising,　nor is there any longer a ceasing;
　　contemplate all these conditioned dharmas　as a flower in empty space.
　　The grasper and the grasped —　cast off together that deluded view;
　　neither already arisen nor about to arise,　and no longer any cause-and-condition.
　　All is from the first nothing-whatever —　these are but speech.

The marks of false-imagining speech · the four kinds of speech

At that time the bodhisattva-mahāsattva Mahāmati again said to the Buddha: "World-Honored One! We beg you to expound for us the heart-essence sūtra of 'the marks of false-imagining speech.' World-Honored One! If I and the rest of the bodhisattva-mahāsattvas can well know the heart-essence sūtra of the marks of false-imagining speech, then we will penetrate the two meanings of 'that which speaks' and 'that which is spoken,' and win quickly the supreme, perfect, complete awakening; and, by the two courses of 'that which speaks' and 'that which is spoken,' purify all sentient beings."

The Buddha told Mahāmati: "Listen well, listen well, and reflect well upon it; I shall expound it for you."

Mahāmati said to the Buddha: "It is well, World-Honored One! I reverently receive the teaching."

The Buddha told Mahāmati: "There are four kinds of false-imagining speech, namely: mark-speech, dream-speech, speech of clinging to the fault of false imagining, and beginningless false-imagining speech. As for mark-speech: it arises from one's own false imagining of the color-mark and clinging to the color-mark. As for dream-speech: it is the realm formerly passed through, arising following upon memory — arising, after one has awakened, from the natureless­ness of that realm. As for the speech of clinging to the fault of false imagining: it is the deed done by a former enemy, arising following upon memory. As for beginningless false-imagining speech: it arises from the beginningless unreal clinging, those faults, from the habit-energy of one's own seeds. These are called the four kinds of false-imagining speech."

At that time the bodhisattva-mahāsattva Mahāmati, again by this meaning, entreated the World-Honored One: "We beg you to expound for us further: the realm manifested by false-imagining speech. World-Honored One! In what place, for what cause, in what manner, by what reason, does the false-imagining speech of sentient beings arise?"

The Buddha told Mahāmati: "It is the sound uttered by the joining together of the head, the chest, the throat, the nose, the lips, the tongue, the gums, and the teeth."

Mahāmati said to the Buddha: "World-Honored One! Are speech and false imagining one and the same, or not the same?"

The Buddha told Mahāmati: "Speech and false imagining are neither one and the same nor not the same. Why so? Because they arise as marks by being causes of one another. Mahāmati! If speech and false imagining were not the same, then false imagining ought not to be the cause of speech; if they were the same, then the words would not make the meaning appear — yet it does have something it makes appear. Therefore they are neither one and the same nor not the same."

Speech and what is spoken are both not the ultimate truth

Mahāmati again said to the Buddha: "World-Honored One! Is it 'that which speaks' that is the ultimate truth, or is it 'that which is spoken' that is the ultimate truth?"

The Buddha told Mahāmati: "It is not that 'that which speaks' is the ultimate truth, nor is it that 'that which is spoken' is the ultimate truth. Why so? Because that ultimate truth is what the noble ones delight in, that place into which speech can enter — that is the ultimate truth; it is not that speech itself is the ultimate truth. As for what is called the ultimate truth, it is what is won by the noble wisdom of self-realization; it is not the realm of which false-imagining speech is aware. Therefore speech and false imagining do not make the ultimate truth appear. As for what is called speech: it is the arising-and-ceasing, the wavering, the turning-forth in reliance upon cause-and-condition; and if it is the turning-forth in reliance upon cause-and-condition, then it does not make the ultimate truth appear. Mahāmati! Because the marks of self and other are in their nature without nature, the mark of speech does not make the ultimate truth appear.

Entering the measure of one's own mind · one should leave behind speech and false imagining

"Furthermore, Mahāmati! because [all] follows upon the entering into the measure of one's own mind, the outer objects of every kind of mark are in their nature without nature, and so speech and false imagining do not make the ultimate truth appear. Therefore, Mahāmati! one should leave behind speech and the marks of every kind of false imagining."

At that time the World-Honored One, wishing to restate this meaning, spoke in verse:

　　All natures are in truth without self-nature,　and there is, again, no speech;
　　that profound meaning of 'the empty and the empty'　the foolish person cannot know.
　　The intrinsic nature of all natures,　the dharma of speech — all are like a shadow;
　　the buddha-son of the noble wisdom of self-realization —　the place of the true limit is what I speak of.

Apart from one-and-different, together-and-not-together, and the rest · the several similes for the outsiders' false views

At that time the bodhisattva-mahāsattva Mahāmati again said to the Buddha: "World-Honored One! We beg you to expound for us that meaning which is apart from 'one and different, together and not-together, being and non-being, neither being nor non-being, constant and inconstant' — the [meaning] that no outsider can practice, that is the practice of the noble wisdom of self-realization; that is apart from the particular mark and shared mark of false imagining and enters into the first true meaning; that is the mark of the grounds in continuum, in sequence advancing higher and higher, the mark of purity, following upon the entering into the mark of the Tathāgata ground, the fundamental vow that needs no unfolding — like the realm manifested by the many-colored maṇi-jewel, that boundless mark-and-activity, the manifestation of one's own mind, all the dharmas that tend toward the mark of the parts. May I and the rest of the bodhisattva-mahāsattvas leave behind the view of such false-imagining natures and of the particular-and-shared marks, and win quickly the supreme, perfect, complete awakening, and cause all sentient beings to win, in every way, ease and bliss, complete and fully filled."

The Buddha told Mahāmati: "It is well, it is well! You are able to ask me such a meaning, able to give much ease and bliss and much benefit to the many; it is out of pity for all the devas and men of the world."

The Buddha told Mahāmati: "Listen well, listen well! Reflect well upon it! I shall expound and explain it for you in its distinctions."

Mahāmati said to the Buddha: "It is well, World-Honored One! I reverently receive the teaching."

The Buddha told Mahāmati: "The foolish common person who does not know 'it is but the measure of mind' grasps at inner and outer natures, and, relying upon 'one and different, together and not-together, being and non-being, neither being nor non-being, constant and inconstant,' falls to false imagining, clung to by the habit-cause of intrinsic nature. It is as when a herd of deer, pressed by thirst, see the spring-mirage and form the thought 'water,' and in confusion rush toward it, not knowing it is not water. Such foolish persons, perfumed by the beginningless unreal false imagining, their minds burning with the three poisons, delighting in and craving the realm of forms, seeing arising, abiding, and ceasing, grasp at inner and outer natures, and fall into the thought of 'one and different, together and not-together, being and non-being, neither being nor non-being, constant and inconstant,' and with false views take these up. It is like a gandharva-city: the common fool, without wisdom, yet forms the thought 'a city' — this is the manifesting of a clinging-thought that is the beginningless habit-energy. In truth there is neither a city nor no city. Just so, the outsiders, clung to by the beginningless unreal habit-energy, relying upon the view of 'one and different, together and not-together, being and non-being, neither being nor non-being, constant and inconstant,' are unable to know that this is, in truth, the measure of one's own mind. It is as when a man, within a dream, sees men and women making horses, carts, and travel on foot, sees cities and towns, gardens and groves, mountains and rivers, bathing pools, and every kind of adornment, his own body too entered therein — and after waking he still remembers it. Mahāmati! What do you think? Such a man, not letting go the memory of what he formerly dreamed — is he to be reckoned clever and wise?"

Mahāmati said to the Buddha: "He is not, World-Honored One!"

The Buddha told Mahāmati: "Just so, the common person, bitten by evil views, with the wisdom of the outsiders, not knowing that all this is like a dream and is in truth the measure of one's own mind, yet relies upon the view of 'one and different, together and not-together, being and non-being, neither being nor non-being, constant and inconstant.' It is like a painted image, which in itself is neither high nor low, yet the common fool forms the thought 'high' and 'low.' Just so, the outsiders of the time to come, filled with the habit-energy of evil views, relying upon the view of 'one and different, together and not-together, being and non-being, neither being nor non-being, constant and inconstant,' ruin themselves and ruin others too. And even those who have left behind 'being' and 'non-being' and speak the doctrine of 'no-arising,' they too are one and all pronounced by them to be 'nothing.' They slander the view of cause-and-fruit, uproot the roots of good, and destroy the pure cause. The one who truly seeks the way should leave them far behind, and make this judgment: 'Those persons have fallen into the view of self, other, and both, have fallen into the false imagining of being and non-being, and have already fallen into affirmation and denial. By this evil view they shall fall into the hells.' It is as when a man with clouded eyes sees something like falling hairs and says to the crowd: 'Look at this — these are falling hairs.' In truth it is, in the end, neither a thing that is nor a thing that is not, because some see it and some do not. Just so, the outsiders, with false views, give rise to longing, and, relying upon the view of 'one and different, together and not-together, being and non-being, neither being nor non-being, constant and inconstant,' slander the true dharma, sinking themselves and sinking others too. It is as with a whirling firebrand, which in truth is no wheel, yet the foolish person forms the thought 'a wheel' — this is no deed of one who has wisdom. Just so, the outsiders, with evil views, give rise to longing, and, relying upon the thought of 'one and different, together and not-together, being and non-being, neither being nor non-being, constant and inconstant,' say that all natures are arisen. It is as with a water-bubble that resembles a maṇi-jewel: the young and foolish, without wisdom, form the thought 'a maṇi,' and, clinging, pursue it. In truth that water-bubble is neither a maṇi nor no maṇi, because some take it up and some do not. Just so, the outsiders, perfumed by the habit-energy of the false imagining of evil views, upon that which is from the first nothing-whatever say there is 'arising'; and of that which has a condition, again say 'ceasing.'

The three kinds of measure and the five-membered inference · the several similes of false imagining · one should leave behind evil views

"Furthermore, Mahāmati! there are 'three kinds of measure and the five-membered inference,' and, when each is severally established, one wins the noble wisdom of self-realization; but, being apart from the deed of the 'two intrinsic natures,' one there makes the false-imagining clinging to a 'having-nature.' Mahāmati! Once the body-and-mind of mind, mentation, and mental consciousness has once turned about, the grasper and grasped that are the manifestation of one's own mind, all the manifold false imaginings, are cut off. The practitioner who abides in the Tathāgata ground and the noble wisdom of self-realization should not, in that realm, make the thought of 'having-nature' or 'having-no-nature.' If a practitioner, in such a realm, gives rise to the grasping-thought of 'having-nature' or 'having-no-nature,' then he clings to that nurturing, and clings too to 'self' and 'person.' Mahāmati! If one speaks of the particular mark and shared mark of that nature, then all this is what the transformation-buddha speaks, and is not what the dharma-buddha speaks. Furthermore, the manifold speech all arises from the view of longing of the foolish person, and is not for the sake of establishing anew and tending toward the dharma of intrinsic nature, nor for the sake of expounding in distinction to the one who has won the noble wisdom of self-realization and abides in the bliss of samādhi. It is as when the shadow of a tree appears in water: that shadow is neither shadow nor no-shadow, neither the shape of a tree nor no-shape-of-a-tree. Just so, the outsiders, perfumed by the habit-energy of [evil] views, with false imagining and clinging, rely upon the thought of 'one and different, together and not-together, being and non-being, neither being nor non-being, constant and inconstant,' yet cannot know that this is, in truth, the measure of one's own mind. It is as with a bright mirror, which according to conditions manifests all the color-images, while it itself has no false imagining. Those color-images are neither images nor no-images, yet one sees those images as 'image' and 'no-image.' The foolish person, in false imagining, forms the thought 'image.' Just so, the outsiders' evil views are the manifesting of the images of one's own mind, yet with false imagining they cling, relying upon the view of 'one and different, together and not-together, being and non-being, neither being nor non-being, constant and inconstant.' It is as when wind and water join and utter a sound: that sound is neither nature nor no-nature. Just so, the outsiders' evil-view false imagining relies upon the view of 'one and different, together and not-together, being and non-being, neither being nor non-being, constant and inconstant.' It is as when, upon the great earth where there are no grasses or trees, the hot mirage is like a flowing stream, its mighty waves surging like clouds. It is neither a thing that has nature nor a thing that has no nature, because some crave it and some do not. Such foolish persons, perfumed by the beginningless unreal habit-energy, with false imagining and clinging, rely upon 'arising, abiding, ceasing; one and different, together and not-together, being and non-being, neither being nor non-being, constant and inconstant,' taking as condition the gate of the matter wherein they themselves abide — just like that hot mirage and its waves. It is as when a man, by spells and mechanism, sets a wooden man in motion. Because it is not of the number of sentient beings, being a thing the piśāca-demon has by means compounded, it can move and can do deeds; the common fool, in false imagining, clings to its coming and going. Just so, the outsiders, with evil views, give rise to longing, and, relying upon the view of 'one and different, together and not-together, being and non-being, neither being nor non-being, constant and inconstant,' cling in idle disputation, making the unreal establishment. Mahāmati! Therefore one who would win the deed of the noble wisdom of self-realization should leave behind the evil-view false imagining of 'arising, abiding, ceasing; one and different, together and not-together, being and non-being, neither being nor non-being, constant and inconstant,' and the rest."

At that time the World-Honored One, wishing to restate this meaning, spoke in verse:

　　Illusion, dream, the reflection in water, the shadow of a tree,　falling hairs, the hot-season mirage —
　　contemplating the three existences thus,　in the end one wins liberation.
　　It is like the thought of the thirsting deer,　that wavering rise of a deluded mind:
　　the deer takes the thought for water,　yet there is, in truth, no such thing as water.
　　Just so, the seed of consciousness once wavers,　and thereupon it sees a realm;
　　the foolish person's false imagining arises,　as by clouded eyes one is clouded.
　　Within the beginningless birth-and-death,　clinging, one grasps at natures;
　　as one draws out one wedge with another,　so does one cast off the grasping of craving.
　　That realm — like illusion, like the workings of a spell,　like a floating cloud, like a dream, like lightning;
　　contemplating thus, one wins liberation,　forever cutting off the three continuities,
　　wherein there is, in truth, no deed done —　like the mirage, like empty space.
　　Knowing dharmas thus is to be without-knowing;　that verbal teaching is but a borrowed name,
　　and it too has no mark.
　　Yet upon it one raises false imagining,　saying the activity of the aggregates is like falling hairs,
　　like the falling hairs in a painting, like illusion,　like a dream, like a gandharva-city.
　　Like the whirling firebrand, like the hot-season mirage,　from nothing there appear sentient beings;
　　constant and inconstant, one and different,　together and not-together — all are just so.
　　Beginningless, the faults run on in continuum,　and the foolish person, in delusion, falls to false imagining;
　　that bright mirror, that clear water, that pure eye,　that jewel of the wondrous maṇi —
　　within them the manifold colors appear,　yet in truth there is nothing whatever.
　　All natures manifest　as a painting, as the hot-season mirage;
　　the manifold colors appear,　as in a dream, from the first nothing whatever.

The Tathāgata teaches the dharma apart from the four propositions

"Furthermore, Mahāmati! the Tathāgata teaches the dharma apart from propositions such as these: 'one and different, together and not-together, being and non-being, neither being nor non-being, constant and inconstant.' Apart from the discrimination of the affirmation and denial of that 'being' and 'non-being,' he gathers up the true truth, the condition-arising, the path, the ceasing, and liberation. The Tathāgata teaches the dharma taking these for its head. He does not teach the dharma by way of the continuum of 'a nature, a sovereignty, no-cause, the atoms of dust, time, an intrinsic nature.' Furthermore, Mahāmati! in order to purify away the affliction-obstruction and the cognitive obstruction, it is as when a caravan-leader, in due sequence, establishes that dharma-gate of 'the hundred-and-eight phrases, nothing-whatever,' being well skilled in discerning the marks of the several vehicles and of the several grounds.

The four kinds of meditation

"Furthermore, Mahāmati! there are four kinds of meditation. Which four? They are: the meditation practiced by the foolish, the meditation that observes meanings, the meditation that fastens upon suchness, and the Tathāgata's meditation. What is the meditation practiced by the foolish? It is this: the practitioners among the śrāvakas, the pratyekabuddhas, and the outsiders contemplate the nature of 'the no-self of persons,' contemplate the particular mark and shared mark that is the chain of bones, contemplate the marks of impermanence, suffering, and impurity, taking the clinging to these for their head. With marks such as these, they do not make the contemplation of 'no-difference,' and, advancing in cultivation through the turning-forth of before and after, that 'thought' is never extinguished. This is called the meditation practiced by the foolish. What is the meditation that observes meanings? It is this: having already contemplated the particular mark and shared mark of 'the no-self of persons,' and having already made clear that the self, other, and both of the outsiders are without nature, one advances further to contemplate the meaning of the marks of the grounds that is 'the no-self of dharmas,' in due sequence advancing higher. This is called the meditation that observes meanings. What is the meditation that fastens upon suchness? It is this: knowing that the thought of 'the twofold no-self' too is false imagining, one gives rise to no false imagining in the place of suchness-as-it-is. This is called the meditation that fastens upon suchness. What is the Tathāgata's meditation? It is this: entering the Tathāgata ground, practicing the three kinds of blissful abiding that are the mark of the noble wisdom of self-realization, and accomplishing the inconceivable deeds for sentient beings. This is called the Tathāgata's meditation."

At that time the World-Honored One, wishing to restate this meaning, spoke in verse:

　　The meditation practiced by the common person,　the meditation that observes mark and meaning,
　　the meditation that fastens upon suchness-as-it-is,　the Tathāgata's pure meditation.
　　Like the forms of the sun and the moon,　deep and perilous as the padma-flower,
　　like empty space, like the embers of fire —　thus does the practitioner contemplate.
　　Marks of every kind such as these　are the outsiders' meditation of 'attainment through the path,'
　　and they fall likewise into the realm of the śrāvakas　and of the pratyekabuddhas too;
　　casting off the whole of it,　that is the 'nothing-whatever.'
　　The buddhas of all the fields,　with inconceivable hands,
　　all at once stroke the crown of his head,　and following [him], he enters into the mark of suchness.

Technical terms of this division (intrinsic-nature habit-energy, the store consciousness, mentation, the mental consciousness, the realm of the noble wisdom of self-realization, the particular mark and the shared mark, the mark of the intrinsic nature of speech, the mark of the intrinsic nature of things, the concentration of right reception, the samādhi of Mahāyāna illumination, the spiritual power of the anointing of the hand, the spiritual footing of samādhi, the Dharma-Cloud ground) are kept as they stand.

〔Question〕Mahāmati asks: what dharma is it that is called nirvāṇa

At that time the bodhisattva-mahāsattva Mahāmati again said to the Buddha: "World-Honored One! When one speaks of parinirvāṇa, of which dharma is it that one speaks in calling it nirvāṇa?"

The Buddha told Mahāmati: "When the habit-energy laid upon all the intrinsic natures, together with the perfumings seen by the store consciousness, mentation, and the mental consciousness, are all alike transformed — this is what is called nirvāṇa. The nirvāṇa spoken of by the buddhas and by me is that realm wherein the intrinsic natures are empty and the things [of the world] are [seen as] empty.

Nirvāṇa is the realm of the noble self-realizing wisdom · apart from annihilation and eternalism

"Furthermore, Mahāmati! nirvāṇa is the realm personally realized by the noble self-realizing wisdom; it is apart from the false imagining of the two extremes, 'annihilation' and 'eternalism,' and apart from the grasping of 'having intrinsic nature' and 'being without intrinsic nature.' How is it said not to be eternal? Because the false imagining that takes the particular mark and the shared mark is cut off — for this reason it is not eternal. How is it said not to be annihilated? Because all the noble ones of past, future, and present have personally realized it — for this reason it is not annihilated. Mahāmati! nirvāṇa is neither perishing nor dying. Were nirvāṇa a thing that dies, then it should again receive birth and continue on; were nirvāṇa a thing that perishes, then it should fall within the marks of the conditioned. It is because it is thus that nirvāṇa is apart from perishing and apart from dying. And it is because it is thus that nirvāṇa is the place to which all who cultivate practice go for refuge.

The four negations of nirvāṇa · the nirvāṇa of the two vehicles

"Furthermore, Mahāmati! nirvāṇa is neither a casting-off nor a gaining, neither annihilated nor eternal, neither of a single meaning nor of manifold meanings. Being such, it is called nirvāṇa.

"Furthermore, Mahāmati! the nirvāṇa spoken of by the śrāvakas and the pratyekabuddhas is this: having awakened to the particular mark and the shared mark, they no longer draw near to and take up those objects, they give rise to no inverted views, and false imagining no longer arises. It is upon just such a ground that they make the reckoning, 'this is nirvāṇa.'

The two kinds of grasping at the mark of intrinsic nature (speech · things)

"Furthermore, Mahāmati! there are two kinds of grasping at the mark of intrinsic nature. Which two? They are: the grasping at the mark of the intrinsic nature of speech, and the grasping at the mark of the intrinsic nature of things. As for the grasping at the mark of the intrinsic nature of speech, it arises from the grasping, from beginningless time, at the false and unreal habit-energy of speech. As for the grasping at the mark of the intrinsic nature of things, it arises from not awakening to the fact that they are one's own mind's manifestation, and yet discriminating them within [their apparent] bounds.

The Tathāgata establishes the bodhisattvas by two kinds of spiritual power

"Furthermore, Mahāmati! the Tathāgata establishes the bodhisattvas by two kinds of spiritual power, so that the bodhisattva-mahāsattvas bow their heads to the buddhas, listen and receive, and ask the meaning of the Dharma. Which two kinds of establishing by spiritual power are they? They are: the spiritual power whereby, within the concentration of right reception, [the Tathāgata] manifests to the bodhisattva every body and face and speaks the Dharma, and the spiritual power whereby [the Tathāgata] anoints the crown of the bodhisattva with his hand.

"Mahāmati! the bodhisattva-mahāsattva, on the first bodhisattva-ground, abides in the spiritual power of the buddhas — that is, he enters that 'samādhi of Mahāyāna illumination of the bodhisattva.' Once he has entered this samādhi, all the buddhas of the ten directions in every world, by the force of their spiritual penetrations, manifest to him every body and face and speak the Dharma for him — just as it was for the bodhisattva-mahāsattva Vajragarbha, and for the other bodhisattva-mahāsattvas who are likewise furnished in full with such a mark of merit and are already accomplished. Mahāmati! this is called the first bodhisattva-ground.

"When the bodhisattva-mahāsattva has won the spiritual power of the bodhisattva's concentration of right reception, and through a hundred thousand kalpas has amassed roots of goodness and brought them to accomplishment, then ground by ground, in due sequence, he counters that mark which is to be countered, penetrating on to the ultimate, until at that Dharma-Cloud ground he abides in a subtle and wondrous palace of the great lotus, seated upon a lion-throne wrought of the great lotus-jewel, surrounded on every side by a retinue of bodhisattva-mahāsattvas of his own kind, his body adorned with strings of many jewels, like gold, like the campaka-blossom, like the light of sun and moon. The most excellent buddhas come from the ten directions and, upon that seat in the great lotus palace, anoint his crown. This is just as the sovereign wheel-turning king, and Śakra the lord of the gods, anoint the crown of a prince and confer the position upon him — this is called the bodhisattva's spiritual power of the anointing of the hand. Mahāmati! these are called the two kinds of spiritual power of the bodhisattva-mahāsattva. If the bodhisattva-mahāsattva abides in these two kinds of spiritual power, he is able to behold the buddhas, the Tathāgatas, face to face; were it not so, he would not be able to behold them.

The samādhis and spiritual footings all abide in the Tathāgata's spiritual power · the simile of mountains, rocks, and trees

"Furthermore, Mahāmati! whatever samādhis, spiritual footings, and Dharma-preaching practices the bodhisattva-mahāsattva discriminates — all these, without exception, abide upon the two kinds of spiritual power of the Tathāgata. Mahāmati! were the bodhisattva-mahāsattva able to expound apart from the spiritual power of the buddhas, then every common person too ought to be able to expound. Why is this? Because the common person does not abide in the spiritual power of the buddhas. Mahāmati! those mountains and rocks and trees, and the manifold musical instruments, city walls, and palaces — because of the awesome spiritual power of the Tathāgata entering the city, even they of themselves give forth the sounds of music; how much more, then, those beings that have mind? The deaf, the blind, the mute, and the dumb, and all their measureless sufferings, are by this delivered. The Tathāgata has spiritual power measureless as this, benefiting and bringing ease to sentient beings."

〔Question〕By what causes and conditions does he add his spiritual power · the verse on the four meanings of spiritual power

The bodhisattva Mahāmati again said to the Buddha: "World-Honored One! by what causes and conditions do the Tathāgata, the Worthy One, the Perfectly Awakened One add spiritual power to the bodhisattva-mahāsattva when he abides in the concentration of right reception, and when, upon the ground of advancement, he receives the anointing?"

The Buddha told Mahāmati: "It is in order to make the bodhisattva keep far from the works of Māra and from the afflictions; in order that he not fall into the meditative absorptions of the śrāvaka-ground; in order that he realize the ground of the Tathāgata's self-realization; and in order that he advance in the dharma he has already won — it is because of these that the Tathāgata, the Worthy One, the Perfectly Awakened One establishes the bodhisattva-mahāsattvas by spiritual power. Were he not to establish them by spiritual power, the bodhisattva would fall into the false imaginings of the evil views of the outsiders, and into the yearning expectation of the śrāvakas and the hosts of Māra, and would not win supreme perfect awakening. It is for this reason that the buddhas, the Tathāgatas, embrace and sustain the bodhisattva-mahāsattvas by spiritual power."

At that time the World-Honored One, wishing to restate this meaning, spoke in verse:

　　Spiritual power is added by him who is supreme among men; the great vows are all made pure and complete,
　　and by the samādhi of right reception, by the anointing, [that power] runs through from the very first ground on to the tenth.

Technical terms of this division (dependent origination, the modes of exposition, ignorance-conditions-formations, this being that is, grasper and grasped, one's own mind's manifestation, the word "constant," the deluding confusion, illusion-like, the name-body-sentence-body-and-form-body, the four modes of exposition, and so on) are kept as they stand.

Dependent origination: this being, that is — not the outsiders' causelessness, not jumbled causal conditions

At that time the bodhisattva-mahāsattva Mahāmati again said to the Buddha: "World-Honored One! The Buddha teaches dependent origination — He speaks thus of causes and of conditions, yet He has not of Himself stated the reason of it. World-Honored One! The outsiders too speak of causes and conditions; they say: from 'the Supremely-Fine,' from 'the Sovereign Lord,' from 'Time,' from 'the atom' are all sorts of natures thus born. Yet what the World-Honored One states — that 'by causes-and-conditions all sorts of natures are born' — has, in the way it is stated, an exposition-with-interval and an exposition-without-interval. World-Honored One! The outsiders too speak of a being and a non-being arising, and the World-Honored One too speaks of a 'not-yet-arisen arising, and having arisen it ceases again.' As with what the World-Honored One states — 'ignorance conditions the formations, on to old-age-and-death' — this seems, to onlookers, the World-Honored One's causeless teaching, not a teaching with a cause. The World-Honored One sets it up, making this statement: 'this being, that is' — yet He does not set up a gradual, sequential arising. Seen thus, what the outsiders state seems rather the more excellent, and not to be like the Tathāgata. Why do I say so? World-Honored One! When the outsiders state a cause, it is not that something is born from conditions but that there is some cause set apart; whereas what the World-Honored One states is 'observing the cause, there is the thing; observing the thing, there is the cause.' In that case, are not cause and condition thereby jumbled? And, tracing it back and forth like this, is it not endless without limit?"

The Buddha told Mahāmati: "I do not teach causelessly, nor do I teach jumbled causal conditions. When I say 'this being, that is,' the meaning is: the grasper and the grasped are alike without real nature — there is only the awakening to one's own mind's manifestation. Mahāmati! If one clings to grasper and grasped, and does not awaken that this was one's own mind's manifestation, taking the outer objective realm to be a being or a non-being, then such a one will have the fault you fear — but that is not the dependent origination I state. I constantly say thus: 'By the joining of causes-and-conditions all sorts of dharmas are born,' and not that they are born without a cause."

Mahāmati again said to the Buddha: "World-Honored One! Is it not that speech has real nature, that there is therefore the real nature of all dharmas? World-Honored One! If speech were without nature, speech would not arise. World-Honored One! It is therefore precisely because speech has nature that there is the nature of all dharmas."

The Buddha told Mahāmati: "Even the natureless can be made into speech; take 'a hare's horn,' 'a tortoise's hair,' and the like — the world has such speech. Mahāmati! These are neither of real nature nor of non-real nature; they are speech and nothing more. As for what you say — that if 'speech has intrinsic nature, then there is the nature of all dharmas' — thereby your thesis is ruined. Mahāmati! It is not that in all buddha-lands there is speech. Speech, as a matter, is a thing merely fashioned. In some buddha-lands the dharma is shown by gazing; in some by making a sign, or by raising the brow, or by moving the eyes, or by a smile, or by a yawn, or by a clearing of the throat, or by the recollection of a land, or by a trembling. Mahāmati! As with showing the dharma by gazing — and the Fragrance-Accumulated world, the land of the Tathāgata Samantabhadra — by gazing alone can the bodhisattvas be brought to win the forbearance of the unborn dharma, and the excellent samādhis. It is therefore said that it is not that speech has nature, that there is thereby the nature of all dharmas. Mahāmati! Look at the gnats, the midges, the worms, and the ants in this world — this kind of being has no speech, and yet each and every one accomplishes its own business."

At that time the World-Honored One, wishing to restate this meaning, spoke in verse:

　　As with empty space, a hare's horn,　and the child of a barren woman,
　　having no [reality] they yet give rise to speech,　and so it is with the false imagining of all sorts of natures.
　　Dharmas formed by the joining of causes-and-conditions —　the foolish common person gives rise to false imagining upon them,
　　and, unable to understand them as they truly are,　revolves within the dwelling of the three existences.

The word "constant": the Buddha states "constant" in dependence on the deluding confusion — the deluding confusion is itself the constant

At that time the bodhisattva-mahāsattva Mahāmati again said to the Buddha: "World-Honored One! That word 'constant' — on what matter is it stated?"

The Buddha told Mahāmati: "It is stated for the sake of the deluding confusion. And it is right within that deluding confusion that the noble ones too alike manifest, and yet it is not distortion. Mahāmati! It is like the spring heat-shimmer, the whirling firebrand-wheel, the falling hairs seen by a diseased eye, the mirage-like gandharva-city, illusion, dream, the image in a mirror — these are the distortion of the world, not what the clear-sighted see, and yet they are not un-manifest. Mahāmati! That deluding confusion has all sorts of manifestations, and yet it is not that the deluding confusion thereby becomes impermanent. Why do I say so? Because it is apart from 'being of nature' and 'being of non-nature.' Mahāmati! What is it for the deluding confusion to be apart from being of nature and of non-nature? It is this: it is that which all the foolish manifest as their sundry objective realms. Just as with that water of the Ganges — the hungry ghosts, by the obstruction of their deeds, either see it or see it not, and so it is said to have no fixed nature of deluding confusion; while to the other destinies it is seen, and so again it is not wholly without nature. In a deluding confusion such as this, the noble ones, upon it, are apart from distortion and apart also from non-distortion. It is therefore said that the deluding confusion is constant — because mark and mark do not perish. Mahāmati! It is not that the sundry marks of the deluding confusion perish along with the mark of false imagining; and precisely for this reason it is said that the deluding confusion is constant. Mahāmati! What is the reality of the deluding confusion? It is this: if one goes on to speak of its causes-and-conditions, the noble ones, upon this deluding confusion, give rise neither to a distorted apprehension nor to a non-distorted apprehension. Mahāmati! Apart from the noble ones, any who still hold the least thought concerning this deluding confusion — that is none of it a thought of the realm in which noble wisdom moves.

"Mahāmati! Whoever speaks of 'being' — that is the false speaking of the foolish, not the speaking of the noble ones. That deluding confusion, following the false imagining of distortion or non-distortion, gives rise to two [kinds of] nature-lineage, namely: the noble nature-lineage and the foolish common person's nature-lineage. The noble nature-lineage has, further, three divisions, namely: the śrāvaka-vehicle, the pratyekabuddha-vehicle, and the buddha-vehicle. What is it for the foolish common person, by false imagining, to give rise to the śrāvaka-vehicle nature-lineage? It is this: clinging to the 'particular mark and shared mark,' one gives rise thereby to the śrāvaka-vehicle nature-lineage — this is called giving rise, by false imagining, to the śrāvaka-vehicle nature-lineage. Mahāmati! Right upon that very same deluding confusion and its false imagining, the pratyekabuddha-vehicle nature-lineage too arises — that is, upon the particular mark and shared mark of that deluding confusion, without contemplating one clings, and gives rise thereby to the pratyekabuddha-vehicle nature-lineage. What is it to be the wise? Right upon that very same thought of the deluding confusion, one gives rise to the buddha-vehicle nature-lineage — that is, awakening to one's own mind's manifestation, knowing that the outer nature is without nature, not giving rise to the mark of false imagining, one gives rise thereby to the buddha-vehicle nature-lineage; this is called giving rise, right upon that deluding confusion, to the buddha-vehicle nature-lineage. Again, upon the natures of all sorts of thing-marks, the common person gives rise to the thought of deluding confusion, and gives rise thereby to the foolish common person's nature-lineage. That deluding confusion is neither a really-existent thing nor wholly a non-thing — this is called the meaning of 'nature-lineage.' Mahāmati! Right upon that very same deluding confusion, at the time when no false imagining is given rise to, the noble ones' mind, mentation, and mental consciousness, that intrinsic-nature dharma which surpasses the habit-energy, then transform their nature — and this is called 'suchness.' It is therefore said that suchness is apart from mind. This one statement I make is precisely to show 'apartness from thought,' that is, apartness from all thought."

Mahāmati said to the Buddha: "World-Honored One! That deluding confusion — is it a being, or is it a non-being?"

The Buddha told Mahāmati: "It is like an illusion, having no mark that can be clung to. Were the deluding confusion to have a mark that could be clung to, then the nature clung to could not be made to cease, and dependent origination would have to be — as with the outsiders — a saying that 'dharmas are born from causes-and-conditions.'"

Mahāmati said to the Buddha: "World-Honored One! If the deluding confusion is illusion-like, then it ought to become a cause for the other delusions."

The Buddha told Mahāmati: "It is not that this illusion becomes the cause of delusion, for it does not give rise to fault. Mahāmati! The illusion does not give rise to fault, because it is of itself without false imagining. Mahāmati! The illusion is born from another's place of brightness (the place where the illusionist plies his craft), not born from one's own false imagining, the place of the fault-laden habit-energy — and so it gives rise to no fault. Mahāmati! This is merely the deluding confusion and clinging within the mind of the foolish, and is no matter of the noble and sagely."

At that time the World-Honored One, wishing to restate this meaning, spoke in verse:

　　The noble one does not see that deluding confusion,　nor is there any real substance in the midst of it;
　　were the midst of it truly real,　the deluding confusion would become real.
　　If, having cast off all delusion,　there yet arises a mark,
　　that too is deluding confusion,　still unpurified, like what the film-covered eye sees.

Illusion-like: unreal and swiftly perishing like lightning — not the illusion-likeness of clinging to a resemblance

"Furthermore, Mahāmati! it is not that this illusion has no point of resemblance, that all dharmas are therefore seen as illusion-like."

Mahāmati said to the Buddha: "World-Honored One! Is it for the sake of clinging to 'the manifold marks of illusion' that all dharmas are said to be illusion-like? Or is it for the sake of clinging to 'a differing mark'? If it be for the sake of clinging to the manifold marks of illusion that all dharmas are said to be illusion-like, then, World-Honored One, there would be some dharmas whose nature is not illusion-like. Why do I say so? Because the manifold marks of form have no single [thing] that is their cause. World-Honored One! There is no single cause that makes the manifold marks of form manifest as though illusion-like. World-Honored One! It is therefore that there is no 'resemblance of clinging to the manifold marks of illusion' to be called illusion-like."

The Buddha told Mahāmati: "It is not that for the sake of clinging to the manifold marks of illusion — that resemblance — all dharmas are said to be illusion-like. Mahāmati! It is rather that all dharmas are unreal, swiftly ruined and perishing like a lightning-flash — and this is what is called illusion-like. Mahāmati! Just as a lightning-flash manifests in an instant, and having manifested at once ruins and perishes, and is not something the foolish [have time to] manifestly see — so it is with every nature: contemplated upon one's own false imagining, upon the particular and shared mark, it is all without nature, and one ought not to cling upon the present marks of form."

At that time the World-Honored One, wishing to restate this meaning, spoke in verse:

　　It is not that this illusion has no point of comparison,　that the nature of dharmas is said illusion-like;
　　it is because it is unreal, swift as lightning,　that it is therefore said to be illusion-like.

Mahāmati again said to the Buddha: "As with what the World-Honored One states — that 'all natures are unborn,' and again 'illusion-like' — is this not a self-contradiction, an earlier and a later, in what the World-Honored One states? Having said 'unborn,' He again says the nature is illusion-like."

The Buddha told Mahāmati: "When I say 'unborn' and say 'the nature is illusion-like,' there is no fault of an earlier-and-later contradiction. Why do I say so? It is this: arising and non-arising are but the awakening to one's own mind's manifestation; being and non-being are 'the outer nature is without nature,' and thereupon 'the unborn' is made manifest. Mahāmati! There is for me no fault of an earlier-and-later contradiction; rather, in order to break the outsiders' saying of 'fruit born within a cause,' I therefore say 'all natures are unborn.' Mahāmati! The outsiders, deluded and clumped together, would have 'being' and 'non-being' be able to arise, not knowing that this is but the condition of one's own false imagining and its manifold clinging. Mahāmati! I do not say that 'being' or 'non-being' is able to arise, and it is therefore that I state it with the teaching of 'the unborn.' Mahāmati! That I state a 'nature' is for the sake of taking in birth-and-death, for the sake of breaking the 'view of nothingness (the view of annihilation),' and for the sake of my disciples — to take in the manifold deeds, to take in the place of receiving birth — that with the speech of 'nature' I take in birth-and-death. Mahāmati! That I state 'the intrinsic mark of illusion-nature' is in order to make one leave behind the clinging to 'the intrinsic mark,' lest one fall into the evil views of the foolish, giving rise to hope upon the marks and states, not knowing that this was one's own mind's manifestation. I would break that view of 'clinging, upon what is made-and-born-within-a-cause, to the intrinsic mark of conditions'; and I therefore say 'all dharmas are like illusion, like a dream in their intrinsic mark,' so as to teach the foolish no longer to give rise to hope in dependence on evil views, no longer to cling to all the dharmas of self and other, or, at the place of the real, to see falsely and make an unrighteous discourse. Mahāmati! As for what is called 'seeing all dharmas at the place of the real' — it means giving rise to one's own mind's manifestation."

At that time the World-Honored One, wishing to restate this meaning, spoke in verse:

　　'The unborn' says that it is without real nature;　the saying of a 'nature' is for taking in birth-and-death.
　　Contemplating it as illusion-like and the rest,　one gives rise to no false imagining upon the marks and states.

The name-body-sentence-body-and-form-body: observe the three marks well and enter the meaning, swiftly winning awakening

"Furthermore, Mahāmati! I shall now state the marks of the 'name-body, sentence-body, and form-body.' The bodhisattva-mahāsattva who observes the name-body, sentence-body, and form-body well thereupon enters into meaning, sentence, and form-body, and swiftly wins supreme, right, and perfect awakening. And, having thus awakened, he brings all sentient beings likewise to awaken. Mahāmati! What is called the name-body is this: naming set up in dependence on a thing — this is called the name-body. What is called the sentence-body is this: within the sentence there is a body of meaning, its intrinsic nature settled and ultimate — this is called the sentence-body. What is called the form-body is this: that which displays name and sentence — this is called the form-body. Further, what is called the form-body refers to long and short, high and low. Further, what is called the sentence-body refers to the path and the track — as with the paths and tracks trodden by elephant, horse, human, and beast, whereby they win the name of 'sentence-body' [track-body]. Mahāmati! What is called name and form is this: by 'name' one calls those four aggregates that are without form, and so one says 'name'; because the particular mark is made manifest, one says 'form.' This is called the name-body, sentence-body, and form-body. I have stated the delimitation of the marks of the name-body, sentence-body, and form-body, in which you should all train."

At that time the World-Honored One, wishing to restate this meaning, spoke in verse:

　　The name-body and the sentence-body,　and the differences of the form-body —
　　the foolish common person gives rise to clinging upon them,　like a great elephant sunk in deep mire.

The mode of setting-aside: apart from one, other, both, and not-both — the four modes of exposition take in beings

"Furthermore, Mahāmati! the wise of a future age should, with a view apart from 'one, other, both, and not-both,' put a question, in respect of the meaning I have penetrated, to one who is without wisdom. That one will answer, saying: 'This is not a fitting way to ask.' That is, one asks: are form and the rest constant or impermanent? different or not-different? — and so one asks about nirvāṇa; asks about the formations and the mark, the marked; asks about quality and the qualified; asks about the made and the made-thereof; asks about the seer and the seen; asks about the dust and the atom; asks about cultivating and the cultivator — this kind of marks that are traced back and forth in relation. To ask this kind of question, and yet [to be told] 'the Buddha states this as unexplained, a setting-aside' — this is not what that foolish one can understand, because his wisdom-of-hearing is not complete. The Tathāgata, the Worthy One, the Perfectly Awakened One, in order to make him leave behind the phrases that occasion dread, therefore states it as 'unexplained,' and does not explain it for him by way of distinction; and, in order to fend off the outsiders' view-discourses, therefore does not state it for him. Mahāmati! The outsiders frame a doctrine like this, saying: 'The life is the very body.' Such [sayings] as this belong to the discourse of the unexplained. Mahāmati! Those outsiders, foolish, frame a discourse of the unexplained upon the cause — and that is not what I state. Mahāmati! What I state is that, being apart from grasper and grasped, false imagining does not arise. Then why should I 'set him aside'? Mahāmati! If one clings to grasper and grasped, not knowing that this was one's own mind's manifestation, it is therefore that I set him aside. Mahāmati! The Tathāgata, the Worthy One, the Perfectly Awakened One, states the dharma for sentient beings by the four modes of exposition. Mahāmati! As for the 'setting-aside mode of exposition' (that which is to be set aside and not answered), I too state it from time to time — it is stated for the sake of those whose faculties are not yet ripe, not stated for those whose faculties are already ripe."

All dharmas are unborn and unperishing, impermanent and yet constant

"Furthermore, Mahāmati! all dharmas, being apart from 'the made' and 'causes-and-conditions,' are unborn — because there is no single doer, all dharmas are unborn. Mahāmati! Why is it said that all natures are apart from intrinsic nature? Because when one contemplates by self-awareness, the natures of the particular mark and the shared mark are none of them to be found — it is therefore said that all dharmas are unborn. Why is it said that all dharmas cannot be borne hither and cannot be borne away? As regards the particular mark and the shared mark: would one bear it hither, there is nowhere it comes from; would one bear it away, there is nowhere it goes to — it is therefore said that all dharmas are apart from 'bearing hither and bearing away.' Mahāmati! Why is it said that all dharmas are unperishing? It is this: the intrinsic mark of their nature is from the first non-existent, and all dharmas are unfindable — it is therefore said that all dharmas are unperishing. Mahāmati! Why is it said that all dharmas are impermanent? It is this: the arising of marks is of an impermanent nature — it is therefore said that all dharmas are impermanent. Mahāmati! And why, again, is it said that all dharmas are constant? It is this: the arising of marks is of itself an unborn nature; this very impermanence is itself the constant — it is therefore said that all dharmas are constant."

At that time the World-Honored One, wishing to restate this meaning, spoke in verse:

　　The modes of exposition are of four kinds:　the direct exposition, the counter-questioning exposition (answering by asking back),
　　the distinguishing exposition and the setting-aside — 　with which to subdue all the outsiders.
　　Those who say that 'being' and 'non-being' can arise　are the Sāṃkhya and the Vaiśeṣika;
　　all of these are the unexplained,　and yet they set it forth thus.
　　What the Perfectly Awakened One distinguishes　is that the intrinsic nature is unfindable;
　　because it is apart from speech,　it is therefore said to be 'apart from intrinsic nature.'

Technical terms of this division (śrotāpanna, sakṛdāgāmin, anāgāmin, arhat, the three fetters, the view of self, innate, false imagining, the dependent nature, the no-self of persons, the measure of one's own mind's manifestation, the four elements and derived form, the ultimate truth, the five aggregates, the store consciousness, the mental consciousness, the seven consciousnesses, the outsiders' four kinds of nirvāṇa, the awareness that examines, the awareness that establishes, the four propositions, the consecration of the dharma-cloud, the imagined nature, the illusion-like, and so forth) are kept as they stand.

〔Question〕Mahāmati asks about the particular and shared marks of the śrotāpanna's course

At that time the bodhisattva-mahāsattva Mahāmati again said to the Buddha: "World-Honored One! I pray you, expound for me the particular marks and the shared marks of the śrotāpannas and of the śrotāpanna's course. If a bodhisattva-mahāsattva can well understand the particular and shared marks of the śrotāpanna's course, and the skillful-means marks of the sakṛdāgāmin, the anāgāmin, and the arhat, knowing them one by one in their distinctions, he will then be able to teach the dharma to sentient beings in this way and that — the mark of the twofold no-self, the purification of the two obstructions, the marks of passing through the grounds, and the ultimate penetration whereby one wins the inconceivable ultimate realm of the Tathāgatas. Like that maṇi-jewel that shows forth the many colors and well benefits all sentient beings, so with the inexhaustible body-and-wealth of the realm of all dharmas he embraces and nurtures all sentient beings."

The Buddha told Mahāmati: "Listen well, listen well! Ponder it and bear it in mind. Now I shall expound it for you."

Mahāmati said to the Buddha: "It is well, World-Honored One! I shall surely receive it."

The three kinds of śrotāpanna fruit and their distinctions · the three fetters · the two kinds of view of self

The Buddha told Mahāmati: "There are three kinds of śrotāpanna, three distinctions of the śrotāpanna fruit. Which three? They are the lower, the middling, and the higher. The lower takes at most seven more births; the middling wins parinirvāṇa within three to five more births; the higher wins parinirvāṇa in this very birth. Each of these three has three fetters — also divided into lower, middling, and higher. Which three fetters? They are the view of self, doubt, and the clinging to observances. As these three fetters, from level to level, are advanced upon and risen through, one at last wins arhatship.

"Mahāmati! The view of self is of two kinds, namely: the innate view of self, and the view of self by false imagining. It is like the false imagining of the dependent [nature] and the false imagining of an intrinsic nature. Just as, resting upon the dependent nature, the many false imaginings of intrinsic nature arise by clinging. Because what is thus imagined is neither existent, nor non-existent, nor both existent-and-non-existent, there is in truth no real mark of false imagining at all. The foolish one gives rise to false imagining, clinging and adhering to the marks of the many kinds of imagined intrinsic nature — just as, in the shimmer of the hot season, a deer sees it and there arises the notion of water where it thirsts. This is the śrotāpanna's view of self by false imagining; by the no-self of persons he takes hold of the truth that there is no intrinsic nature, cutting off the clinging that has been fixed there from beginningless ignorance.

"Mahāmati! As for what is called the innate view of self, it is this view of self in the śrotāpanna: as to one's own body, another's body, and the rest, since the four [non-form] aggregates are seen to be without form-mark; since form is born of the four great elements — since the composing and the composed are, turn and turn about, causes for one another; and since the great elements together with form do not, in the end, gather together — the śrotāpanna contemplates that pair of views, 'existent' and 'non-existent,' and thereupon the view of self is cut off. When the view of self is thus cut off, greed no longer arises — and this is called the mark of the view of self.

"Mahāmati! As for what is called the mark of doubt, it is this: since one has gained the dharma and well seen the mark of the truths, and since the false imagining of the former two kinds of view of self has been cut off, one no longer gives rise to doubt concerning the dharmas; nor does one, elsewhere, give rise to the view of 'taking such-and-such for the great teacher,' asking whether it is pure or impure — and this is called the mark of doubt that the śrotāpanna cuts off.

"Mahāmati! As for the clinging to observances — why does the śrotāpanna not cling to observances? Because he has well seen that those places of rebirth are all marked with suffering, and so he does not cling to them. Mahāmati! As for the one who clings to observances, it means that the foolish one is resolved to undertake and cultivate the many kinds of austere practice, seeking rebirth for the sake of the many kinds of means to ease and pleasure; the śrotāpanna does not cling in this way. He only turns toward the surpassing dharma of self-realization, and, apart from false imagining, with the skillful means of practice in accord with the mark of the undefiled dharma, he upholds the precept-branches — and this is called the mark of the clinging to observances that the śrotāpanna cuts off. When the śrotāpanna has cut off the three fetters, greed and delusion no longer arise. If the śrotāpanna should give rise to a thought like this — 'These fetters I have not accomplished' — then there ought to be two faults: first, he falls into the view of self; second, the several fetters are not yet cut off."

The many kinds of greed · which greed is cut off

Mahāmati said to the Buddha: "World-Honored One! The World-Honored One has spoken of many kinds of greed. Which greed, then, is cut off?"

The Buddha told Mahāmati: "The loving delight in women, the entangling attachment, the seeking after them by every kind of means, the working of bodily and verbal deeds whereby one receives the pleasure of the present yet sows the suffering of the future — this kind of greed no longer arises. Why so? Because one has won the pleasure of samādhi and its right attainment. Therefore what is cut off is this kind of greed, and it is not that the greed which turns toward nirvāṇa is cut off.

The mark of the sakṛdāgāmin · the anāgāmin · the arhat

"Mahāmati! How is the mark of the sakṛdāgāmin to be spoken of? It is this: as to the mark that false imagining gives rise to concerning the marks of form, in a single flash he beholds it, and the [grasped] mark arises no more; and since he has well seen the marks of the course of meditation, in a single coming he returns once to this human world, exhausts the bounds of suffering, and wins nirvāṇa — and so he is called the sakṛdāgāmin.

"Mahāmati! How is the anāgāmin to be spoken of? It is this: as to whether the marks of form in past, future, and present are of a nature that exists or of a nature that does not exist, he sees the fault and peril in the view of their arising, and so causes false imagining not to arise, and because the fetters are cut off — he is called the anāgāmin.

"Mahāmati! As for what is called the arhat, it is this: since the meditations, the samādhis, the liberations, the powers, and the higher knowledges — and the afflictions, suffering, and false imagining — are all without intrinsic nature, he is called the arhat."

The three kinds of arhat

Mahāmati said to the Buddha: "World-Honored One! The World-Honored One has spoken of three kinds of arhat. Which kind of arhat is here intended? World-Honored One! Is it the arhat who has won the tranquil, one-vehicle path? Or the arhat that a bodhisattva-mahāsattva manifests by skillful means? Or a transformation-being conjured by the Buddha?"

The Buddha told Mahāmati: "It is the śrāvaka who has won the tranquil, one-vehicle path, and not the others. As for the others, they are the one who practises the bodhisattva-practice, and the transformation-being conjured by the Buddha, who, by subtle skillful means and by the power of their original vows, manifest rebirth within the great assembly, for the sake of adorning the retinue of the Buddha. Mahāmati! In the midst of false imagining there is the teaching, this way and that — the so-called winning of the fruit, the winning of meditation. That which is called 'the one who meditates entering meditation' is in every case apart [from all this]; it is the manifesting of 'the winning of self-realization, the measure of one's own mind's manifestation.' Only that mark of the winning of the fruit is what is named the winning of the fruit.

To surpass meditation is only to leave behind the measure of one's own mind's manifestation

"Furthermore, Mahāmati! one who would surpass the meditations, the four immeasurables, and the formless realm should leave behind the mark of the measure of one's own mind's manifestation. Mahāmati! to say that 'the right attainment of feeling and perception can surpass the measure of one's own mind's manifestation' — that is not so. Why? Because it is still the having of the measure of mind."

At that time the World-Honored One, wishing to restate this meaning, spoke in verse:

　　The meditations and the four immeasurables,　the samādhi of the formless realm —
　　when all feeling and perception have ceased,　the measure of mind is there no more.
　　The śrotāpanna fruit, the once-returner and the non-returner,　and that arhat —
　　all of these are still the mind's own bewilderment.
　　Meditation, the one who meditates, and the object,　what is cut off and what is known — these are the ultimate truth;
　　yet these are still the measure of false imagining, and only when one awakens is there liberation.

The two kinds of awareness · the awareness that examines · the awareness that establishes · entering the first ground

"Furthermore, Mahāmati! there are two kinds of awareness, namely: the awareness that examines, and the awareness that 'grasps and clings to and establishes the mark of false imagining.'

"Mahāmati! As for what is called the awareness that examines, it is this: if one examines the mark of 'a nature, an intrinsic nature,' selecting and discerning it one by one, and, apart from the four propositions, it is in the end unattainable — this is called the awareness that examines. Mahāmati! Those four propositions are: apart from oneness-and-difference, apart from both-and-neither, apart from existence-and-non-existence-and-neither-existence-nor-non-existence, apart from permanence-and-impermanence — these are called the four propositions. Mahāmati! Apart from these four propositions is what is called all dharmas. Mahāmati! By these four propositions examine all dharmas; thus should one train.

"Mahāmati! How is the awareness that 'grasps and clings to and establishes the mark of false imagining' to be spoken of? It is this: as to the mark of false imagining, one grasps and clings to those four great elements — the hard, the moist, the warm, and the moving — and, by tenet, reason, notion, and simile, one clings and adheres, setting up as real establishment what is not real establishment — this is called the awareness that 'grasps and clings to and establishes the mark of false imagining.' Such are the two marks of awareness.

"If a bodhisattva-mahāsattva accomplishes these two marks of awareness, and wins the ultimate penetration of the mark of the no-self of persons and the mark of the no-self of dharmas, well knowing the skillful means and entering the awareness of 'there being nothing whatever,' he contemplates and practises the several grounds and wins the first ground; he enters a hundred samādhis and wins the many kinds of distinct samādhis, sees a hundred buddhas and a hundred bodhisattvas, and knows the affairs of a hundred aeons before and after; his light shines upon a hundred buddha-fields, he knows the marks of the grounds above and above, and his great vows are surpassing and his spiritual power sovereign. Reaching the dharma-cloud ground he receives consecration, and thereupon he wins the self-realized ground of the Tathāgatas, well fastening his mind upon the ten inexhaustible phrases; he ripens sentient beings, works the many kinds of transformation and the adornment of light, and wins the right attainment of the samādhi of the noble bliss of self-realization.

The four elements and derived form · in the ultimate truth, unborn · only one's own mind's manifestation

"Furthermore, Mahāmati! the bodhisattva-mahāsattva should well understand the four elements and derived form. How does the bodhisattva well understand the four elements and derived form? Mahāmati! the bodhisattva-mahāsattva trains in this way: that, as to the ultimate truth, the four elements are unborn. Upon that non-arising of the four elements he makes this examination. Having made the examination, he awakens to the fact that the bounds of 'name, mark, and false imagining' are, one and all, the bounds of one's own mind's manifestation, and that outer objects are without intrinsic nature — this is called 'the bounds of the false imagining of one's own mind's manifestation.' That is, he contemplates the three realms and sees that the nature of the four elements and derived form is of itself apart; the four propositions are, one by one, made thoroughly pure; and, apart from self and what belongs to self, he abides according to the bounds of the true mark and the particular mark, and upon non-arising he accomplishes the particular mark.

"Mahāmati! How do those four great elements arise and derive form? It is this: the false-imagining great element of the moist gives rise to the inner and outer water-element; the false-imagining great element of the capable [energy] gives rise to the inner and outer fire-element; the false-imagining great element of the wafting gives rise to the inner and outer wind-element; the false-imagining great element of the cutting-off of form gives rise to the inner and outer earth-element. Form and space being together, clinging to a false truth, the five aggregates gather together, and the four elements and derived form arise.

"Mahāmati! As for what is called consciousness — because it delights in the many kinds of traces and objective realms, in the remaining destinies it continues on without a break. Mahāmati! earth and the other elements, and the derived form and the rest, do have the four elements as their condition, and yet are not conditioned by those four elements. Why? It is this: that nature, form, mark, place, and the means of what is made are without intrinsic nature, and the four great elements do not, in truth, arise. Mahāmati! it is that nature, form, mark, place, and the means of what is made, combining, that arise — it is not that they are altogether without form-mark. Therefore, to speak of 'the mark of the four elements and derived form' — that is the false imagining of the outsiders, and is not what I teach.

The intrinsic mark of the aggregates · apart from number, like space

"Furthermore, Mahāmati! I should expound the intrinsic mark of the aggregates. What is the intrinsic mark of the aggregates? It is the five aggregates. Which five aggregates? They are form, feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness. Those four aggregates that are not form are feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness.

"Mahāmati! As for what is called form, it is the four elements and derived form, each with its differing mark. Mahāmati! it is not said that 'without form there is yet a fourfold number,' as with space. Just as space has, of itself, surpassed the mark of number and is apart from number, and yet the foolish one falsely imagines and says 'one space' — so likewise, Mahāmati! those five aggregates have surpassed the mark of number, are apart from number, apart from being-a-nature and not-being-a-nature, and apart from the four propositions. That so-called 'mark of number' is the foolish one's speech; what he speaks is not the realm of the noble and worthy.

"Mahāmati! the noble one sees those five aggregates as the many illusion-like color-images, apart from the setting-up of 'different-and-not-different'; and again as the shadow in a dream, as the body of a person in a dream, apart from 'different-and-not-different.' Mahāmati! the resort of noble wisdom is the same as the false imagining of those five aggregates that manifests [them] (knowing them to be, that very moment, illusion). This is called the intrinsic mark of the aggregates.

"You should extinguish it; and, having extinguished it, expound for others the dharma of tranquillity, and cut off all the outsiders' views throughout the buddha-fields. Mahāmati! at the time of expounding that tranquillity, the view of the no-self of dharmas is made pure, and one enters the immovable ground. Having entered the immovable ground, one wins sovereignty in the measureless samādhis, and wins the mind-made body, wins the samādhi of illusion, penetrates to the ultimate, and is sovereign in the powers and higher knowledges, delivering and embracing and benefiting all sentient beings. Just as the great earth bears up and nurtures sentient beings, so the bodhisattva-mahāsattva, universally succoring sentient beings, is likewise.

The outsiders' four kinds of nirvāṇa · the nirvāṇa the Buddha teaches is the ceasing of the consciousness of false imagining

"Furthermore, Mahāmati! the outsiders have four kinds of nirvāṇa. Which four? They are: the nirvāṇa of the intrinsic nature of a nature being no nature; the nirvāṇa of the marks of the many kinds being no nature; the nirvāṇa of the awareness of the particular mark and intrinsic nature being no nature; and the nirvāṇa of the cutting-off of the continuing flux of the particular and shared marks of the aggregates. These are called the outsiders' four kinds of nirvāṇa, and are not the dharma I teach. Mahāmati! What I teach is this: that when the consciousness of false imagining has ceased, that is called nirvāṇa."

Mahāmati said to the Buddha: "World-Honored One! Do you then not establish the eight consciousnesses?"

The Buddha said: "I establish them."

Mahāmati said to the Buddha: "If the eight consciousnesses are established, how then is it said to be apart from the mental consciousness and yet not apart from those seven consciousnesses?"

The Buddha told Mahāmati: "Because of that 'cause' and that 'objective condition,' those seven consciousnesses do not arise. As for the mental consciousness — it arises by making segmented clinging upon the objects, giving rise to habit-energy, nurturing that store consciousness, arising together with mentation (manas), and arising further by way of the clinging and reflecting on self and what belongs to self as its cause-and-condition. That store consciousness, whose body-mark is not destroyed, arises through clinging upon the objects manifested by one's own mind, the clinging-and-massing of mind, turn and turn about being causes for one another. Just as the ocean-waves, blown by the wind of the objects manifested by one's own mind, now arise and now cease — so likewise. Therefore, when the mental consciousness ceases, the seven consciousnesses cease too."

At that time the World-Honored One, wishing to restate this meaning, spoke in verse:

　　I do not take the nature of nirvāṇa, the made, and the mark　to be nirvāṇa;
　　it is the consciousness of the false-imagined object of cognition —　that consciousness ceasing is my nirvāṇa.
　　That 'cause' and that 'objective condition,'　with the intent and the rest, form the body;
　　what makes the cause is the very mind,　the ground on which consciousness rests.
　　As, when the great flow of the water is exhausted,　the waves rise no more —
　　so, when the mental consciousness ceases,　the many kinds of consciousness arise no more.

The shared mark of the discrimination of the imagined nature

"Furthermore, Mahāmati! I should now expound the shared mark of the discrimination of the imagined nature. If one can well discriminate the shared mark of the discrimination of the imagined nature, then you and the other bodhisattva-mahāsattvas, apart from false imagining, will reach the realm of noble self-realization, and, as to what the outsiders resort to, will well awaken and see, so that the false imagining that grasps and that is grasped is cut off; and upon the many marks of the dependent [nature], the workings of the imagined nature, false imagining will no longer arise.

"Mahāmati! What is the shared mark of the discrimination of the imagined nature? It is this: the false imagining of speech, the false imagining of the thing spoken of, the false imagining of mark, the false imagining of gain, the false imagining of intrinsic nature, the false imagining of cause, the false imagining of view, the false imagining of accomplishing, the false imagining of arising, the false imagining of non-arising, the false imagining of the continuum, and the false imagining of bound-and-not-bound. These are called the shared mark of the discrimination of the imagined nature.

"Mahāmati! What is the false imagining of speech? It is this: as to the many kinds of beautiful sounds and singing voices, to covet that beauty and cling to it — this is called the false imagining of speech.

"Mahāmati! What is the false imagining of the thing spoken of? It is this: there is the intrinsic nature of a 'thing spoken of,' which is what noble wisdom knows; yet resting upon it one gives rise to the false imagining of speech — this is called the false imagining of the thing spoken of.

"Mahāmati! What is the false imagining of mark? It is this: as to that very thing spoken of, one gives rise to the many kinds of clinging and clings to them — as with the deer's notion in its thirst — namely, upon the marks of the hard, the moist, the warm, and the moving, one gives rise to false imagining concerning all natures — this is called the false imagining of mark.

"Mahāmati! What is the false imagining of gain? It is this: to covet and delight in the many kinds of gold, silver, and precious things — this is called the false imagining of gain.

"Mahāmati! What is the false imagining of intrinsic nature? It is this: to hold that 'the intrinsic nature is just so, thus determined,' not apart from that false imagining of evil views — this is called the false imagining of intrinsic nature.

"Mahāmati! What is the false imagining of cause? It is this: as to cause and condition, to make the discrimination of 'existent' and 'non-existent,' and from the mark of cause it arises — this is called the false imagining of cause.

"Mahāmati! What is the false imagining of view? It is this: concerning existence-and-non-existence, oneness-and-difference, both-and-neither, to give rise to evil views — that false imagining which is the outsiders' false-imagining clinging — this is called the false imagining of view.

"Mahāmati! What is the false imagining of accomplishing? It is this: by the notion of self and what belongs to self, to set up a determinate thesis — this is called the false imagining of accomplishing.

"Mahāmati! What is the false imagining of arising? It is this: to cling by resting upon the nature of 'existent' and 'non-existent' — this is called the false imagining of arising.

"Mahāmati! What is the false imagining of non-arising? It is this: that all natures are of themselves unborn, and are without seed and cause-and-condition, yet one gives rise to the clinging that fixes 'the body that has no cause' — this is called the false imagining of non-arising.

"Mahāmati! What is the false imagining of the continuum? It is this: that the grasping and the grasped, in the same moment, continue on without a break, as with a thread of gold — this is called the false imagining of the continuum.

"Mahāmati! What is the false imagining of bound-and-not-bound? It is this: as to 'the cause-and-condition of binding,' one gives rise to clinging, as when a person, by the many kinds of means, now binds and now looses — this is called the false imagining of bound-and-not-bound.

"Concerning this shared mark of the discrimination of the imagined nature, all foolish ones cling to 'existent' and 'non-existent.' Mahāmati! the one who, clinging to the dependent [nature], gives rise to clinging, gives rise to the many kinds of false imagining and clings to intrinsic nature; as illusion manifests the many kinds of bodies, the common person gives rise to false imagining, seeing those many kinds of differing illusions. Mahāmati! illusion and those many kinds are neither different, nor not-different. If it be said they are different, then illusion would not be the cause of the many kinds; if it be said they are not-different, then illusion and the many kinds would have no distinction — yet plainly a distinction is seen — therefore it is said neither-different-nor-not-different. Therefore, Mahāmati! you and the other bodhisattva-mahāsattvas, as to that 'illusion-like dependent [nature] and false-imagining intrinsic nature' — different-and-not-different, existent-and-non-existent — should cling to none of it."

At that time the World-Honored One, wishing to restate this meaning, spoke in verse:

　　The mind is bound by the objective realm,　and the wisdom of awareness-and-thought turns along with it;
　　reaching that 'nothing whatever' and the most surpassing place,　the wisdom of sameness arises.
　　Upon the imagined nature it seems to be,　upon the dependent it is not at all;
　　false imagining may grasp it here,　but the dependent is not itself false imagining.
　　The many parts and limbs give rise [to it];　if it be said to be like illusion, it does not hold;
　　upon the mark it seems to be the many kinds,　if it be said to be false imagining, it does not hold.
　　That mark is from the first a fault,　arising all from the mind's own binding;
　　false imagining is of itself without knowing,　yet upon the dependent it gives rise to false imagining.
　　This whole nature of false imagining　is that very dependent [nature];
　　false imagining shows forth the many kinds,　all upon the dependent giving rise to false imagining.
　　The worldly truth and the ultimate meaning,　the third being 'arising without cause';
　　by false imagining one speaks the worldly truth,　and its being cut off is the noble realm.
　　Just as, in the affair of one who cultivates practice,　upon a single object the many kinds appear —
　　upon that object there are no many kinds at all;　the mark of false imagining is likewise.
　　Just as with the many kinds of eye-cataract,　false imagining sees the throng of colors appear;
　　the cataract is of itself without color, and yet not color,　but the dependent cannot of itself awaken to this.
　　Just as, in refining that true gold,　one leaves behind all the several defilements —
　　as space is without cloud or veil,　when false imagining is purified it is likewise.
　　False imagining is of itself without intrinsic nature,　yet there is that dependent [nature];
　　establishing and denying　are both wrought to ruin by false imagining.
　　If false imagining were without nature,　yet there is the nature of the dependent;
　　from being-without-nature it becomes having-nature,　and having-nature and being-without-nature are thus given rise to.
　　Resting the cause upon false imagining,　one wins that dependent [nature];
　　mark and name ever accompany one another,　and thereby the many kinds of false imagining arise.
　　Ultimately unaccomplished,　one then passes beyond the several false imaginings;
　　thereafter one knows purity,　and this is what is called the ultimate meaning.
　　False imagining is of twelve kinds,　the dependent is of six kinds;
　　self-awareness knows that object of cognition,　and they are of themselves without distinction.
　　The five dharmas are the true and real,　the intrinsic natures are three in kind;
　　the one who cultivates practice discriminates this principle, and does not overstep suchness.
　　The many marks together with the dependent,　give rise to false imagining upon the name;
　　those many marks of false imagining　all arise from that dependent [nature].
　　When the wisdom of awareness well examines,　there is no condition and no false imagining;
　　accomplishment attained, there is from the first no intrinsic nature — where then is any awareness of false imagining?
　　That intrinsic nature of false imagining　establishes the twofold intrinsic nature;
　　false imagining shows forth the many kinds — the pure alone is the noble realm.
　　False imagining is like the color upon a painting,　clinging to false imagining upon the dependent;
　　if it be said to be other than false imagining (a thing apart), one falls into the outsiders' doctrine.
　　False imagining speaks of the thing imagined,　arising from the joining of cause and view;
　　apart from these two kinds of false imagining, this is what accomplishment is.

Technical terms of this division (the mark of the noble wisdom of self-realization, the one vehicle, the three vehicles, the śrāvaka, the pratyekabuddha, the afflictive obstruction, the karmic habit-energy, the no-self of dharmas, the death of birth-and-death by segments, the uncontaminated realm, the Tathāgata's inconceivable sovereign dharma-body) are kept as they stand.

〔Question〕Mahāmati asks the Buddha to teach the mark of the noble wisdom of self-realization and the one vehicle

At that time the bodhisattva-mahāsattva Mahāmati again said to the Buddha: "World-Honored One! I pray you, expound for us the mark of the noble wisdom of self-realization and the one vehicle. If the mark of the noble wisdom of self-realization and the one vehicle can be expounded, then I, together with the other bodhisattvas, well able to penetrate this mark of the noble wisdom of self-realization and the one vehicle, shall have no need to lean upon another, but shall be able of ourselves to penetrate the Buddha-dharma."

The Buddha told Mahāmati: "Listen closely, listen closely! and reflect well upon it, for I shall expound it for you."

Mahāmati said to the Buddha: "So be it. I receive your teaching wholeheartedly."

〔Answer〕The mark of the noble wisdom of self-realization · the mark of the one vehicle · none but the Tathāgata attains it

The Buddha told Mahāmati: "What the sages of old knew, handing it down and passing it on each to each, was the teaching that 'false imagining has no intrinsic nature of its own.' A bodhisattva-mahāsattva, alone in a quiet place, contemplating in awakened awareness of himself, leaning upon no other, apart from 'views' and from 'false imagining,' rising higher step by step, enters into the ground of the Tathāgata — and this is called the mark of the noble wisdom of self-realization.

"Mahāmati! And what is the mark of the one vehicle? It is this: to have won the awakening to the one-vehicle path, which I then call the one vehicle. And what is it to have won the awakening to the one-vehicle path? It is this: concerning the false imagining of 'the grasper and the grasped,' to raise no more false imagining in the place of things-as-they-truly-are — and this is called the awakening of the one vehicle. Mahāmati! this awakening of the one vehicle is not something the other outsiders, or the śrāvakas, pratyekabuddhas, or the great Brahmā kings, are able to win — none but the Tathāgata alone can win it. It is for this very reason that it is named the one vehicle."

Mahāmati said to the Buddha: "World-Honored One! why is it that you speak of three vehicles, and do not speak of the one vehicle?"

The Buddha told Mahāmati: "Because the śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas cannot of their own power enter into the dharma of parinirvāṇa, I do not speak of the one vehicle to any śrāvaka or pratyekabuddha. Understand: all śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas are subdued by the Tathāgata, are given the skillful means of tranquillity by the Tathāgata, and only thereby win deliverance — it is not by their own power. For this reason I do not speak the one vehicle to them.

〔Turn〕The afflictive obstruction's karmic habit-energy is not cut off · turning the mind toward the Tathāgata's dharma-body

"Furthermore, Mahāmati! because the 'afflictive obstruction's karmic habit-energy' of the śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas is not cut off, I do not speak of the one vehicle to any śrāvaka or pratyekabuddha. They do not awaken to the 'no-self of dharmas,' and cannot escape 'the death of birth-and-death by segments' — and it is for this reason that I speak the three vehicles to them. Mahāmati! if those persons should cut off the whole of the fault of the afflictions now arisen, together with the habit-energy, and should awaken to the no-self of dharmas; then, that whole fault of the afflictions now arisen together with the habit-energy having been cut off, and knowing too that the relishing of and clinging to the joy of samādhi is without intrinsic nature of its own — this is the awakening to the uncontaminated realm. Having awakened, they enter once more into that supramundane, supreme-supramundane uncontaminated realm, perfect and complete in every furnishing of merit, and shall then win the Tathāgata's inconceivable, sovereign dharma-body."

At that time the World-Honored One, wishing to restate this meaning, spoke in verse:

　　The vehicle of the gods and the vehicle of Brahmā,　the śrāvaka-vehicle and the pratyekabuddha-vehicle,
　　and the vehicle of the buddhas, the Tathāgatas —　these manifold vehicles I speak of;
　　but so long as the mind-stream is still turning,　none of these vehicles is ultimate.
　　When that mind-stream is wholly spent,　there is neither vehicle nor one who rides,
　　no 'vehicle' whatever to be set up,　and this I call the one vehicle;
　　only for the sake of guiding sentient beings　do I set forth in distinctions the manifold vehicles.
　　Deliverance is of three kinds,　together with that 'no-self of dharmas';
　　the afflictions and wisdom and the rest, all as one,　are, in the moment of deliverance, all left behind.
　　Just as a piece of driftwood on the sea　is forever turned about by the waves,
　　so too the foolish śrāvaka　is buffeted by the wind of 'marks.'
　　The afflictions now arisen having ceased,　and the folly of the habit-energy of the afflictions being cast off too,
　　he yet relishes the joy of samādhi,　abiding at ease in the uncontaminated realm.
　　With no ultimate resort to go to,　and yet turning back no more,
　　he wins the manifold samādhi-bodies,　and even through long aeons does not awaken.
　　Just as one deeply drunk　awakens only when the wine has worn away,
　　so too is that dharma of his awakening:　awakening, he wins the Buddha's supreme body.

Technical terms of this division (the mind-made body, the samādhi-bliss-of-right-reception mind-made body, the mind-made body of awakening-to-the-intrinsic-nature-of-dharmas, the mind-made body born-of-its-kind-and-free-of-contrivance, the five deeds of immediate retribution, the hell of no reprieve, the dharma won through one's own condition, the abiding dharma, the four samenesses, the samādhi of illusion, the two obstructions, the two deaths) are kept as they stand.

The three kinds of mind-made body

At that time the World-Honored One told the bodhisattva-mahāsattva Mahāmati: "The differentiating and the shared marks of the mind-made body I shall now expound. Listen well, listen well, and reflect well upon it and bear it in mind."

Mahāmati said to the Buddha: "So be it, World-Honored One! I receive the teaching with a single mind."

The Buddha told Mahāmati: "There are three kinds of mind-made body. Which three? They are: the samādhi-bliss-of-right-reception mind-made body, the mind-made body of awakening-to-the-intrinsic-nature-of-dharmas, and the mind-made body born-of-its-kind-and-free-of-contrivance. The one who cultivates practice, when he knows the marks of the step-by-step advance from the first ground upward, wins these three bodies.

"Mahāmati! What is called the samādhi-bliss-of-right-reception mind-made body? It is this: on the third, fourth, and fifth grounds, by reason of the bliss of right reception in samādhi, all sorts of things fall still within one's own mind; abiding in the ocean of the mind, the marks of the consciousness that raises the waves no longer arise; and one knows that the objective realm manifested by one's own mind is [seen] to be with, or without, intrinsic nature — this is called the samādhi-bliss-of-right-reception mind-made body.

"Mahāmati! What is called the mind-made body of awakening-to-the-intrinsic-nature-of-dharmas? It is this: on the eighth ground, contemplating and awakening to the fact that all dharmas that are illusion-like and the rest are utterly without anything at all, one's body and mind are transformed, and one wins the samādhi of illusion together with the other samādhi-gates; furnished in full with measureless marks, powers, sovereignty, and radiance, adorned as with a marvelous flower, swift and free according to one's wish, like an illusion, like a dream, like the moon in water, like the image in a mirror — not made, and not something made, and yet as though made and something made — all the color-forms and the manifold limbs and members furnished in full with adornment, entering at will into the assemblies of all the buddha-fields — because he has penetrated the intrinsic nature of dharmas, this is called the mind-made body of awakening-to-the-intrinsic-nature-of-dharmas.

"Mahāmati! What is called the mind-made body born-of-its-kind-and-free-of-contrivance? It is this: awakening to all the buddha-dharmas and taking as one's object the mark of the bliss won through one's own condition — this is called the mind-made body born-of-its-kind-and-free-of-contrivance.

"Mahāmati! As to the marks of those three bodies, one should contemplate and awaken to them, and should train in just this way."

At that time the World-Honored One, wishing to restate this meaning, spoke in verse:

　　It is not my great vehicle,　nor speech, nor the letter,
　　not truth, nor liberation,　nor is it said to be without a realm.
　　Yet what is ridden is the Mahāyāna,　sovereign within samādhi,
　　the manifold mind-made bodies,　free and adorned as with a flower.

The five deeds of immediate retribution, and not entering the hell of no reprieve

At that time the bodhisattva-mahāsattva Mahāmati said to the Buddha: "World-Honored One! As the World-Honored One has said, if there be a man or a woman who does the five deeds of immediate retribution, yet does not fall into the hell of no reprieve. World-Honored One! Why is it that a man or a woman who does the five deeds of immediate retribution does not, on the contrary, enter the hell of no reprieve?"

The Buddha told Mahāmati: "Listen well, listen well, and reflect well upon it and bear it in mind; I shall expound it for you."

Mahāmati said to the Buddha: "So be it, World-Honored One! I receive the teaching with a single mind."

The Buddha told Mahāmati: "What are the five deeds of immediate retribution? They are: the killing of father and mother, the harming of an arhat, the wrecking of the harmonious assembly, and the drawing of blood from the Buddha's body with an evil mind.

"Mahāmati! What is a being's 'mother'? It is the 'craving' that summons future existence and arises together with delight and desire. As one sets up a 'father' in relation to a 'mother,' so 'ignorance' is the father, for it causes one to be born into the settlement of the six sense-fields. To cut off these two roots, craving and ignorance, is called 'the killing of father and mother.'

"Those latent afflictions — the fetters that do not manifest, yet, like a lurking rat-poison, are bound at last to break out — when, within all the dharmas, one cuts them off utterly, this is called 'the harming of an arhat.'

"What is called 'the wrecking of the assembly'? It is this: those manifold aggregates, of marks that differ each from each, join and gather and heap themselves together; to cut off this heap utterly is called 'the wrecking of the assembly.'

"Mahāmati! Not awakening to the particular and shared marks of the outer objects — [seeing that] there is but the sevenfold body of consciousness that is one's own mind's manifestation — and, with the unstained right knowledge that breaks false imagining by way of the three gates of liberation, cutting off utterly those seven kinds of consciousness that are the 'Buddha': this is called 'the drawing of blood from the Buddha's body with an evil mind.'

"If there be a man or a woman who does these deeds-of-immediate-retribution belonging to the inner dharma, this is called the five deeds of immediate retribution, and is also called the deeds of immediate retribution."

The outer immediate-retribution · the like-of-immediate-retribution manifested only by transformation-power

"Furthermore, Mahāmati! there is an 'outer immediate-retribution,' which I shall now set forth. When you and the other bodhisattva-mahāsattvas have heard this meaning, in ages to come you will not fall into folly. What are those five [outer] immediate-retributions? They are the very 'immediate-retributions' spoken of before. If a man performs this cutting-off of the inner dharma, then within the three gates of liberation he wins, one by one, not one of those 'like-of-immediate-retribution' dharmas.

"Apart from this cutting-off of the inner dharma, whatever 'like-of-immediate-retribution' is manifested by transformation-power is this: the transformation-power of the śrāvaka, the transformation-power of the bodhisattva, the transformation-power of the Tathāgata — for the sake of some other person who has committed a deed of immediate retribution, to remove his doubt and remove his remorse, and so as to urge him to give rise to the aspiration, [these] by transformation-power display that 'like-of-immediate-retribution.' There is no one who has all along committed a deed of immediate retribution and yet wins the 'like-of-immediate-retribution' dharma — unless he awakens to his own mind's manifestation, is apart from the false imagining of body and possessions, and is apart from the grasping of 'I' and 'mine'; or, meeting at some time a good friend, is freed from that unbroken continuum of false imagining within the remaining destinies."

At that time the World-Honored One, wishing to restate this meaning, spoke in verse:

　　Craving is called the mother,　ignorance is the father,
　　the consciousness that awakens to objects is called the Buddha,　the manifold fetters are called the arhat,
　　the heaping-up of the five aggregates is called the assembly;　cut these off in immediate sequence,
　　and this, it is said, is the five immediate-retributions　by which the doer does not enter the hell of no reprieve.

The Buddha's knowing-and-awakening

At that time the bodhisattva Mahāmati again said to the Buddha: "World-Honored One! Would that you might expound for us the 'Buddha's knowing-and-awakening.' World-Honored One! What is the Buddha's knowing-and-awakening?"

The Buddha told Mahāmati: "To awaken to the twofold no-self of persons and dharmas; to understand fully the two obstructions of the afflictions and the knowable; to be apart from the two deaths of the apportioned and the transformed; and to cut off the two afflictions, root and latency — this is called the Buddha's knowing-and-awakening. If a śrāvaka or a pratyekabuddha wins this dharma, he too is called a Buddha. It is by reason of this cause and condition that I speak of 'one vehicle.'"

At that time the World-Honored One, wishing to restate this meaning, spoke in verse:

　　Well able to know the twofold no-self of persons and dharmas,　cutting off the two obstructions and the afflictions,
　　forever apart from the two deaths, the apportioned and the transformed —　this is called the Buddha's knowing-and-awakening.

The four samenesses

At that time the bodhisattva Mahāmati said to the Buddha: "Why is it that the World-Honored One, in the midst of the great assembly, utters words such as these: 'I am all the buddhas of the past, and have also undergone birth of every sort — in that time I was Mandhātṛ the wheel-turning king, the six-tusked great elephant, the parrot-bird, Śakra lord of the devas, the seer Sunetra; and thus lives by the hundred-thousand have I told'?"

The Buddha told Mahāmati: "It is because of four kinds of 'sameness' that the Tathāgata, the Worthy One, the Perfectly Awakened One, in the midst of the great assembly, utters words such as these: 'In that time I was Krakucchanda, Kanakamuni, and Kāśyapa Buddha.' Which four samenesses? They are: sameness of letter, sameness of speech, sameness of dharma, and sameness of body — these are called the four samenesses. It is because of these four samenesses that the Tathāgata, the Worthy One, the Perfectly Awakened One, in the midst of the great assembly, utters words such as these.

"What is called sameness of letter? If that word 'Buddha' names me, that word 'Buddha' names all the buddhas as well; the intrinsic nature of that word bears no difference — this is called sameness of letter.

"What is called sameness of speech? It is this: I bring forth my speech in the sixty-four kinds of Brahma-voice in unbroken continuity, and all those Tathāgatas, Worthy Ones, Perfectly Awakened Ones likewise bring forth their speech in the sixty-four kinds of Brahma-voice in unbroken continuity — neither increased nor diminished, without difference, all the Brahma-voice-sound-nature of the kalaviṅka.

"What is called sameness of body? It is this: I and the buddhas, in the dharma-body and in the color-body's marks and minor marks, bear no difference — save that, for the sake of taming the beings of the several differing kinds and destinies, we display color-bodies of manifold difference; this is called sameness of body.

"What is called sameness of dharma? It is this: I and those buddhas have all won the thirty-seven limbs-of-awakening dharmas. Stated briefly, the buddha-dharma of unobstructed wisdom — this is called the four samenesses. It is therefore that the Tathāgata, the Worthy One, the Perfectly Awakened One, in the midst of the great assembly, utters words such as these."

At that time the World-Honored One, wishing to restate this meaning, spoke in verse:

　　Kāśyapa, Krakucchanda, and Kanakamuni — these are I;
　　by reason of these four samenesses, thus do I speak to the sons of the Buddha.

From a certain night I won the utmost right awakening, until a certain night I entered parinirvāṇa, and in between I did not speak one word

Mahāmati again said to the Buddha: "As the World-Honored One has said: 'From a certain night I won the utmost right awakening, until a certain night I entered parinirvāṇa, and in between I did not so much as speak one word, and neither have I spoken nor shall I speak; not to speak — this is what is the Buddha's speaking.'

Mahāmati said to the Buddha: "World-Honored One! For what reason does the Tathāgata, the Worthy One, the Perfectly Awakened One, say: 'Not to speak — this is what is the Buddha's speaking'?"

The Buddha told Mahāmati: "It is by reason of two dharmas that I speak thus. Which two dharmas? They are: the dharma won through one's own condition, and the abiding dharma. It is by reason of these two dharmas that I speak thus.

"What is called the dharma won through one's own condition? Whatever the Tathāgata has won, I too have won it alike, neither increased nor diminished. That ultimate realm of the dharma won through one's own condition is apart from the false imagining of speech, apart from the two tendencies of the letter.

"What is called the abiding dharma? It is this: the path of the ancient former sages. As with the intrinsic nature of things like gold and silver, the dharma-realm abides constant; whether a Tathāgata comes into the world or comes not into the world, the dharma-realm abides constant. It is like coming to the path and so coming to awakening — as a man walking in the wilderness sees a level, straight road leading to an ancient city, and, following that road, enters the city, and receives there bliss according to his wish. Mahāmati! What do you think — did that man himself make this road and the manifold blisses within the city?"

Mahāmati answered: "No, he did not."

The Buddha told Mahāmati: "I too, and all the buddhas of the past — the dharma-realm abiding constant — are just so. It is therefore said: 'From a certain night I won the utmost right awakening, until a certain night I entered parinirvāṇa, and in between I did not speak one word, and neither have I spoken nor shall I speak.'"

At that time the World-Honored One, wishing to restate this meaning, spoke in verse:

　　On a certain night I won awakening,　until a certain night, nirvāṇa;
　　in between these two,　I had nothing whatever to say.
　　By reason of the abiding of the dharma won through one's own condition, thus do I speak,
　　for those buddhas and I myself　bear no difference at all.

The marks of being and non-being in all dharmas

At that time the bodhisattva Mahāmati again asked the World-Honored One: "Would that you might expound for us the marks of 'being' and 'non-being' in all dharmas, that I and the other bodhisattva-mahāsattvas, being apart from the marks of 'being' and 'non-being,' may swiftly win supreme perfect awakening."

The Buddha told Mahāmati: "Listen well, listen well, and reflect well upon it and bear it in mind; I shall expound it for you."

Mahāmati said to the Buddha: "So be it, World-Honored One! I receive the teaching with a single mind."

The Buddha told Mahāmati: "This world's reliance is of two kinds: reliance on 'being,' and reliance on 'non-being.' And, falling into the desirous view of 'nature' and 'non-nature,' one cannot be apart from that 'apart-from-marks.' Mahāmati! What is called the world's reliance on 'being'? It is this: there is 'the world is born of causes and conditions,' saying it is not un-existent; that it is 'born from being,' not 'born from non-being.' Mahāmati! One who speaks thus is saying the world exists without a cause. Mahāmati! What is called the world's reliance on 'non-being'? It is this: having first accepted the intrinsic nature of craving, hatred, and delusion, one then, by false imagining, clings and reckons, saying that the intrinsic nature of that craving, hatred, and delusion is without-nature.

"Mahāmati! If one does not grasp at that 'nature-of-being,' then nature-and-mark are of themselves at rest. It is therefore said: the Tathāgatas and the śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas do not grasp at the intrinsic nature of craving, hatred, and delusion, saying it is being, or is non-being. Mahāmati! Herein, who is it that counts as the 'ruinous one' (the holder of annihilation)?"

Mahāmati said to the Buddha: "World-Honored One! It is one who, having first grasped the intrinsic nature of craving, hatred, and delusion, afterward grasps it no more."

The Buddha told Mahāmati: "Well said, well said! Thus do you understand it. Mahāmati! Not only is the one for whom the intrinsic nature of that craving, hatred, and delusion is without-nature reckoned a ruinous one; but toward the śrāvakas, pratyekabuddhas, and the Buddha as well, this [same] view is [that of] a ruinous one. Why so? It is this: because that intrinsic nature is, within and without, not to be found, and because the intrinsic nature of the afflictions is both different and not-different. Mahāmati! craving, hatred, and delusion, whether within or without, are not to be found; the intrinsic nature of craving, hatred, and delusion has neither body nor anything to be grasped — therefore the Buddha, the śrāvakas, and the pratyekabuddhas are not ruinous ones. The Buddha, the śrāvakas, and the pratyekabuddhas are, by reason of the liberation that is intrinsic nature, and because 'the bond' and 'the cause of the bond' are without-nature. Mahāmati! If there truly were this thing 'being bound,' then there ought to be 'that which binds' — because it would be the cause of the bond. Mahāmati! the ruinous one who speaks thus is called 'the mark of nothing whatever.'

"Mahāmati! For this reason I say: better to grasp a 'view of a person' as great as Mount Sumeru than to give rise to that view of emptiness which is the conceit of 'nothing whatever.' Mahāmati! that one of the conceit of 'nothing whatever' is called 'ruinous.' He falls into the longing for the view of particular and shared marks, not knowing that these are in truth one's own mind's manifestation. Seeing that the intrinsic nature of outer things is impermanent, moment by moment turning and decaying; and that the aggregates, elements, and sense-fields, in unbroken flow, alter and perish — being apart from the false imagining that is the mark of the letter: this is called a ruinous one."

At that time the World-Honored One, wishing to restate this meaning, spoke in verse:

　　'Being' and 'non-being' are these two extremes,　down to the realm of the mind;
　　purge that realm away utterly,　and the even mind is stilled.
　　That realm-nature which is nothing to grasp　is a ceasing, and yet not 'nothing whatever';
　　all existent things are just-so-as-they-are,　like the realm of the worthy and the noble.
　　Without seed, and yet said to have arising,　arisen, it perishes again;
　　causes-and-conditions are being, and yet non-being —　this abides not within my teaching.
　　It is not the outsiders', nor the Buddha's,　not 'I,' nor yet another;
　　since it is gathered up out of causes and conditions,　how can it be said to be non-being?
　　Who is it that gathers up this being of causes and conditions,　and then turns and says it is non-being?
　　That is wrong view expounding the arising of dharmas,　clinging by false imagining to 'being' and 'non-being.'
　　If one can know that from the root there is no arising,　and likewise nothing that perishes,
　　and contemplate that all of this is empty and still,　then 'being' and 'non-being' both fall away.

Technical terms of this division (realization-mastery, teaching-mastery, the nine kinds of teaching, unreal false imagining, grasper and grasped, one's own mind's manifestation, being skilled in speech and meaning, the mark of wisdom-and-consciousness, mundane wisdom, supramundane wisdom, supreme-supramundane wisdom, the nine kinds of transformation) are kept as they stand.

〔Question〕Mahāmati asks about the mark of realization-mastery

At that time the bodhisattva Mahāmati again said to the Buddha: "World-Honored One! I pray you expound for me and for the host of bodhisattvas the mark of realization-mastery. If we could well and skillfully discern the mark of realization-mastery, then I and the host of bodhisattvas, having penetrated this mark — having penetrated this mark — could then swiftly accomplish unsurpassed, perfect awakening, following neither those [false] cognizing-imaginings, nor the host of Māras and outsiders."

The Buddha told Mahāmati: "Listen well, listen well! Ponder it well and bear it in mind; I shall expound it for you."

Mahāmati said to the Buddha: "Yes; I receive the teaching."

〔Answer〕The two masteries: the mark of realization-mastery and the mark of teaching-mastery

The Buddha told Mahāmati: "All śrāvakas, pratyekabuddhas, and bodhisattvas have two kinds of mastery, namely realization-mastery and teaching-mastery. Mahāmati! By realization-mastery is meant: taking as one's object the mark of one's own attained supreme advance, being far removed from the false imagining of speech, words, and letters, going toward the particular mark of the outflow-free realm and the ground of self-awakening, being far removed from every false cognizing-imagining, subduing all the outsiders and the host of Māras, and — taking as one's object the resort of self-awakening — blazing forth in radiance. This is called the mark of realization-mastery. And what is the mark of teaching-mastery? It is: expounding the nine kinds of teaching in their manifold forms, apart from the marks of 'different and not-different,' 'being and non-being,' and the rest; and, by skillful means, teaching the Dharma as befits and in accord with sentient beings, so as to bring them to deliverance. This is called the mark of teaching-mastery. Mahāmati! You and the rest of the bodhisattvas should train in this."

At that time the World-Honored One, wishing to restate this meaning, spoke in verse:

　　These two marks, realization-mastery and teaching-mastery —　the one takes self-realization as its object, the one sets forth the teaching;
　　whoever can see them and discern them well　will not follow after those manifold cognizing-imaginings.
　　The dharmas have no true intrinsic nature at all,　it is only as the fool falsely imagines;
　　this being so, how can one give rise again to a thought of craving,　and take 'there being no intrinsic nature' for deliverance?
　　Contemplate the many conditioned dharmas,　their arising and ceasing continuing unbroken;
　　in vain do they swell the two views, 'being' and 'non-being,'　topsy-turvy and knowing nothing at all.
　　The 'One' alone is the true truth,　to be without fault is nirvāṇa,
　　contemplate the manifold false imaginings of this world,　all of them like an illusion, like a dream, empty as the plantain.
　　Though there appear to be greed, hatred, and delusion here,　there is in truth no person who is the receiver of them;
　　from craving the aggregates arise,　and all that there is, is like an illusion, like a dream.

〔Question〕Mahāmati asks about the mark of unreal false imagining

At that time the bodhisattva Mahāmati said to the Buddha: "World-Honored One! I pray you expound for me that mark of unreal false imagining. How does unreal false imagining arise? Expounding which kind of dharma is it that is called unreal false imagining? And in which kind of dharma does one give rise to unreal false imagining?"

The Buddha told Mahāmati: "Good, good! You are able to ask the Tathāgata a meaning such as this — able to benefit the many, able to bring ease to the many; it is out of pity for the whole world, its gods and men. Listen well, listen well! Ponder it well and bear it in mind; I shall expound it for you."

Mahāmati said to the Buddha: "Good, World-Honored One! Yes; I receive the teaching."

〔Answer〕Unreal false imagining arises from clinging

The Buddha told Mahāmati: "Upon the manifold meaning-marks, one gives rise to the manifold clingings of unreal false imagining, and thereupon false imagining arises. Mahāmati! Clinging upon grasper and grasped, one does not know that this is the measure of one's own mind's manifestation; and one falls into the views of 'being' and 'non-being,' and swells the view of the outsiders. The habit-energy of false imagining clings to the manifold outer meaning-marks. The false imagining of mind and mental factors clings to 'I' and 'what is mine,' and so arises."

Mahāmati said to the Buddha: "World-Honored One! If, as is said, upon the manifold meaning-marks one gives rise to the manifold unreal false imaginings, and by clinging false imagining arises; if, clinging upon grasper and grasped, one does not know it to be the measure of one's own mind's manifestation, and falls into the views of being and non-being, and swells the view of the outsiders; if the habit-energy of false imagining clings to the manifold outer meaning-marks, and the false imagining of mind and mental factors clings to 'I' and 'what is mine,' and so arises — World-Honored One! if it is so and thus, then the manifold outer meaning-marks, being fallen into the marks of being and non-being, are also apart from 'having intrinsic nature and not having intrinsic nature,' and also apart from the marks of 'seer and seen.' World-Honored One! and the ultimate meaning too is like this, being apart from the marks of 'measure, limit, part, simile, and cause.' World-Honored One! why is it that in the 'one place' — that is, the meaning of unreal false imagining, the clinging to the manifold intrinsic natures — false imagining arises, whereas in that other place, the mark of 'clinging to the ultimate meaning,' false imagining does not arise? Is not the World-Honored One then speaking that doctrine of 'the wrong cause,' saying that one thing arises and one thing does not arise?"

The Buddha told Mahāmati: "It is not that false imagining, the one, arises and the other does not arise. Why? Just because that false imagining of 'being' and 'non-being' does not arise. When, toward the 'having intrinsic nature and not having intrinsic nature' of the outward manifestation, one has once awakened to its being the measure of one's own mind's manifestation, false imagining does not arise. Mahāmati! it is with respect to the remaining fools that I speak thus — because of the mark of the manifold false imaginings of their own minds: with the thing-mark and the working of action set before their eyes, they give rise to clinging upon the intrinsic-nature-notion of the manifold false imaginings, and it arises. How is the fool to be brought to leave behind the clinging-view of 'I' and 'what is mine'? To leave behind the fault of the cause that is 'agent and act,' to awaken to the measure of his own false-imagining mind, so that body and mind are turned about, and he penetrates through to the end and clearly comprehends all the grounds, that realm of the Tathāgata's self-awakening, apart from the false imagining that is the view of the five dharmas, the intrinsic natures, and the thing-marks? For this reason I say: false imagining arises from the clinging to the manifold unreal meaning-marks. When one knows the meaning as-it-truly-is, one wins deliverance and stills the manifold false imaginings."

At that time the World-Honored One, wishing to restate this meaning, spoke in verse:

　　The manifold causes and conditions　give rise here to the world,
　　false imagining clings to the 'four propositions,'　yet knows not the meaning I have penetrated.
　　The world is not something that arises from 'being,'　nor is it something that arises from 'non-being,'
　　it arises neither from 'being' and 'non-being,'　nor yet from 'neither being nor non-being.'
　　The manifold causes and conditions —　how should the fool give rise to false imagining upon these,
　　saying it is non-being and is also non-non-being,　and saying it is both being and non-being?
　　Contemplating the world thus,　with a single turn of mind one wins no-self,
　　all dharmas are unborn at their root,　for they all arise from conditions.
　　All is made by conditions,　and what is thus made is not something the thing itself has of its own,
　　a thing cannot give rise to a thing of itself,　else there were the fault of 'two things.'
　　Since there is no fault of 'two things,'　there is no 'having a single intrinsic nature' to be had.
　　Contemplate the many conditioned dharmas,　apart from the object-that-grasps and the object-grasped,
　　that 'no-mind' measure of mind —　this, I say, is the true measure of mind.
　　What is called 'measure' is the place where intrinsic nature abides,　where grasper and grasped, the two, are both left behind,
　　intrinsic nature utterly subtle and pure —　this I then call by the name 'measure.'
　　That 'self' set up in the worldly truth —　it has, in fact, no real thing to it,
　　and the aggregates, and the many things set up upon the aggregates,　likewise have no real thing to them.
　　There are four kinds of sameness: first, the sameness of mark,　second, the sameness of arising by cause,
　　the third is the sameness of no-self,　the fourth the sameness of cultivating and the one who cultivates.
　　When the habit-energy of false imagining is turned about,　there arise the manifold minds,
　　and the objective realm appears outwardly —　this is the worldly measure of mind.
　　Though it appear outwardly, it is not real,　it is the mind seeing those manifold marks of itself,
　　setting up the body-mark and its resources —　this, I say, is the measure of mind.
　　Apart from all the manifold views,　and apart from the thinker and the thought,
　　without anything attained and without arising —　this, I say, is the measure of mind.
　　Neither having intrinsic nature nor not having intrinsic nature,　'intrinsic nature and no-intrinsic-nature' both left behind,
　　that, I say, is the deliverance of the mind —　this, I say, is the measure of mind.
　　The suchness, and the reach of emptiness,　nirvāṇa and the dharma-realm,
　　the manifold minds that are will-born bodies —　all, I say, are the measure of mind.

〔Question〕Mahāmati asks: what is being skilled in speech and meaning?

At that time the bodhisattva Mahāmati said to the Buddha: "World-Honored One! as the World-Honored One has said, the bodhisattva-mahāsattva should be skilled in speech and in meaning. How is the bodhisattva skilled in speech and in meaning? What is called 'speech'? What is called 'meaning'?"

The Buddha told Mahāmati: "Listen well, listen well! Ponder it well and bear it in mind; I shall expound it for you."

Mahāmati said to the Buddha: "Good, World-Honored One! Yes; I receive the teaching."

〔Answer〕What speech is · what meaning is

The Buddha told Mahāmati: "What is called 'speech'? It is: the joining together of the false-imagining marks of language and letters, uttered by way of the throat, lips, tongue, teeth, gums, cheeks, and jaws — arising, on account of that 'you-and-I' speaking, from the clinging of the habit-energy of false imagining. This is called 'speech.' Mahāmati! What is called 'meaning'? It is: being apart from all the marks of false imagining and the marks of speech. This is called 'meaning.' Mahāmati! toward this 'meaning,' the bodhisattva-mahāsattva, alone in a quiet place, by the threefold wisdom of hearing, pondering, and cultivating, penetrates it by taking self-awakening as his object, goes toward that city of nirvāṇa, and — the habit-energy and the body-mark being turned about — within the realm of self-awakening contemplates the meaning-mark of the supreme advance that goes from ground to ground. This is called the bodhisattva-mahāsattva being skilled in meaning.

〔Furthermore〕Speech and meaning are neither different nor not-different · like a lamp lighting up color

"Furthermore, Mahāmati! the bodhisattva-mahāsattva skilled in speech and meaning contemplates that 'speech' and 'meaning' are neither different nor not-different; and he contemplates that 'meaning' and 'speech' too are like this. If 'speech' were different from 'meaning,' then 'meaning' ought not to be made clear by way of 'speech'; yet it is by way of 'speech' that one enters into 'meaning,' just as a lamp lights up color.

〔Furthermore〕Unborn and unceasing · the manifold false imaginings, like an illusion

"Furthermore, Mahāmati! as for those 'unborn and unceasing,' 'intrinsic-nature nirvāṇa,' 'the three vehicles and the one vehicle,' 'the sameness of the intrinsic nature of mind' and the rest — if, taking as one's object the meaning of what speech says, one clings, then one falls into the two views of 'establishing' and 'denying.' Apart from this establishing, and apart from this false imagining, they are like an illusion in which the manifold false imaginings appear. Just as with the manifold conjuring-tricks, it is the foolish common beings who form deviant false imaginings about them, not the noble and worthy who do."

At that time the World-Honored One, wishing to restate this meaning, spoke in verse:

　　His speech being false imagining,　he falsely 'establishes' upon the dharmas,
　　and because he establishes them thus,　after death he falls into the mud-hells.
　　Within the aggregates there is no 'self,'　nor is it that the aggregates are the 'self';
　　yet it is not as he falsely imagines,　nor is it that there is wholly no self at all.
　　To say all things truly have intrinsic nature　is to imagine falsely as the fool imagines;
　　were it truly as he sees it,　then every person would have seen the truth.
　　To say all dharmas are without intrinsic nature,　that pure and defiled are utterly without any —
　　yet it is not the unreal as he sees it,　nor is it that there is nothing at all.

〔Furthermore〕The mark of wisdom-and-consciousness · the three kinds of wisdom

"Furthermore, Mahāmati! that mark of wisdom and of consciousness I shall now expound for you. If you can well and skillfully discern the mark of wisdom-and-consciousness, then you and the host of bodhisattvas, penetrating the mark of wisdom-and-consciousness, will swiftly accomplish unsurpassed, perfect awakening. Mahāmati! that 'wisdom' is of three kinds, namely: mundane wisdom, supramundane wisdom, and supreme-supramundane wisdom. What is mundane wisdom? It is: all the outsiders and common fools clinging to 'being' and 'non-being.' What is supramundane wisdom? It is: all the śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas fallen into a longing and clinging for the particular mark and the shared mark. What is supreme-supramundane wisdom? It is: the buddhas and bodhisattvas contemplating the dharma of 'nothing whatever,' seeing it unborn and unceasing, apart from the class of 'being' and 'non-being,' entering the ground of the Tathāgata, [realizing] the no-self of persons and of dharmas, and arising with self-realization as their object. Mahāmati! that which arises and ceases is 'consciousness,' and that which neither arises nor ceases is 'wisdom.' Furthermore, that which falls into 'having a mark and having no mark,' and falls into the manifold mark-and-cause of 'being' and 'non-being,' is consciousness; that which transcends the marks of 'being' and 'non-being' is wisdom. Furthermore, that which has the mark of 'nourishing-and-growth' is consciousness, and that which has no mark of 'nourishing-and-growth' is wisdom. Furthermore, there are yet another three kinds of wisdom, namely: knowing arising and ceasing, knowing the particular and shared mark, and knowing the unborn and unceasing. Furthermore, that which has no mark of hindrance is wisdom, and that which upon the objective realm has the manifold marks of hindrance is consciousness. Furthermore, that mark of skillful means born of the joining of three things is consciousness, and that mark of intrinsic nature which, without dependence on any thing, functions of itself, is wisdom. Furthermore, that which has the mark of 'attaining' is consciousness, and that which has no mark of 'attaining' is wisdom. That realm of the noble wisdom of self-realization neither goes out nor comes in, and so it is like the moon in water."

At that time the World-Honored One, wishing to restate this meaning, spoke in verse:

　　That which takes up and amasses the deeds is consciousness,　that which neither takes up nor amasses is wisdom,
　　contemplating all the dharmas,　he penetrates them as originally 'nothing whatever.'
　　Having won the power of sovereignty,　this then is called 'insight,'
　　bound by the objective realm, it is mind;　when the cognizing-imagining arises, that is wisdom.
　　Out of 'nothing whatever' and out of the 'supreme,'　insight arises therefrom,
　　and that mind, mentation, and consciousness　are far removed from the thought of deliberating.
　　One who has won the dharma of no-deliberation　is a son of the buddhas, not a śrāvaka,
　　the stilled and supremely-advancing forbearance　is the Tathāgata's pure wisdom.
　　Born of the supreme meaning that is good,　what is practiced has been left wholly behind,
　　I have these three kinds of wisdom,　and by them the noble open forth the real.
　　Deliberating upon that 'notion,'　he gathers up wholly the natures of the dharmas,
　　the two vehicles do not answer to this,　wisdom is that which is apart from all that there is.
　　That which clings to the manifold intrinsic natures　is what is born of the many śrāvakas,
　　that which has crossed beyond the manifold measures of mind　is the Tathāgata's pure wisdom.

〔Furthermore〕The outsiders' nine kinds of transformation

"Furthermore, Mahāmati! the outsiders have nine kinds of doctrine of transformation. The outsiders' view of transformation arises, namely: transformation of shape-and-place, transformation of mark, transformation of cause, transformation of completion, transformation of view, transformation of intrinsic nature, transformation of the manifesting of conditions, transformation of the manifesting of what is done, and transformation of the thing. Mahāmati! these are called the nine kinds of view of transformation. All the outsiders, by way of this, give rise to a doctrine of the transformation of the arising of 'being' and 'non-being.' What is transformation of shape-and-place? It is: a differing view upon shape-and-place. For instance, as gold is transformed into the manifold vessels, so there is the manifold shape-and-place made to appear, yet the intrinsic nature of the gold is not transformed. The transformation upon the 'nature' of all dharmas is likewise so. Some outsider forms a false imagining like this, and so on down to forming the false imagining of 'transformation of the thing' — and all of it is neither 'the same' nor 'other,' being only false imagining. Just such a 'transformation of nature,' one should know, is like the ripening of milk into curds, of fruit into wine, and the like. The outsiders' false imagining of transformation has, in truth, no transformation at all; to say it 'is' and to say it 'is not' are both one's own mind's manifestation, and the outward 'nature' is in fact no-nature. Mahāmati! foolish common beings such as these are born of the cultivating of their own false imagining. Mahāmati! there is no dharma at all that arises or that ceases — it is like seeing the arising of color in an illusion or a dream."

At that time the World-Honored One, wishing to restate this meaning, spoke in verse:

　　Transformation of shape-and-place, of time,　the four great elements and the sense-faculties,
　　the intermediate state arising in sequence —　all of it is false imagining, and no bright wisdom.
　　Most supreme is that principle of conditioned arising,　not as they falsely imagine it to be,
　　yet this world's conditioned arising too　is as unreal as a gandharva-city.

Technical terms of this division (the continuum, the non-continuum, the three [kinds of] continuum, the threefold union of conditions, the threefold liberation, the imagined nature, intrinsic nature, noble wisdom, the emptiness-dharma, the seal of reality-as-it-is) are kept as they stand.

〔Question〕Mahāmati asks the meaning of the continuum and the meaning of liberation

At that time the bodhisattva Mahāmati again said to the Buddha: "World-Honored One! I only ask that you expound for me the meaning of the continuum and the meaning of liberation of all dharmas. If one can skillfully discern the mark of the continuity and the non-continuity of all dharmas, then I and the bodhisattvas will be able to understand well the skillful means of all continuity, and will not fall into clinging to the continuum upon 'the meaning as it is spoken.' If one can know well the mark of the continuity and the non-continuity of all dharmas, and be apart from the discriminating awareness of words and letters, then one will be able to roam to the buddha-fields of all the buddhas, and amid measureless great assemblies win the seal of power, sovereignty, spiritual penetration, and dhāraṇī, working transformations of every kind and sending forth a shining radiance. With the skill of awakened insight one enters the ten inexhaustible phrases and walks the practice that needs no contriving. Like the sun, the moon, the maṇi-jewel, and the four great elements, upon every ground one is apart from the marks and views of one's own false imagining, and sees all dharmas to be like an illusion, like a dream, and the rest. Entering the body of the buddha-ground, amid all the realms of sentient beings one teaches the Dharma to them and leads them each according to what befits him, so that they all come to abide in 'all dharmas are like an illusion, like a dream, and the rest,' apart from the two categories of being and non-being, apart from the false imagining of arising and ceasing, apart from the meaning that is 'other than what is said' — and so his body turns and turns and grows ever more excellent."

The Buddha told Mahāmati: "Excellent, excellent! Listen closely, listen closely, and reflect well upon it; I shall expound it for you."

Mahāmati said to the Buddha: "Very good; I will receive the teaching."

The Buddha told Mahāmati: "The measureless dharmas, all of them, are clung to as a continuum upon 'the meaning as it is spoken.' That is: the clinging to the continuum of mark, the clinging to the continuum of condition, the clinging to the continuum of being-and-non-being, the clinging to the continuum of the false imagining of arising-and-not-arising, the clinging to the continuum of the false imagining of ceasing-and-not-ceasing, the clinging to the continuum of the false imagining of vehicle-and-non-vehicle, the clinging to the continuum of the false imagining of conditioned-and-unconditioned, the clinging to the continuum of the false imagining of the particular marks of ground upon ground, the clinging to the continuum of the false imagining of one's own uninterrupted false imagining, the clinging to the continuum of the false imagining of the outsiders who rely upon the categories of being-and-non-being, the clinging to the continuum of the false imagining of the uninterruptedness of the three vehicles and the one vehicle. Furthermore, Mahāmati! these, and the rest of the foolish common beings besides, all raise up the continuum of their own false imagining. Because of this continuum, the false imagining of the foolish common person is like a silkworm making its cocoon — with the thread of false imagining it binds itself, and binds others too, and so there comes the clinging to the mark of the continuum of being and of non-being.

The continuum is of itself quiescent · false imagining does not arise

"Furthermore, Mahāmati! within that reality there is likewise no mark of continuity and non-continuity. Because one sees that all dharmas are of themselves quiescent, and that false imagining does not arise. The bodhisattva-mahāsattva sees that all dharmas are of themselves quiescent. Furthermore, Mahāmati! when one has awakened to the being and non-being of the outer object, then that mark which is one's own mind's manifestation is of itself nothing whatever. Following along in the observation of the measure of one's own mind's manifestation, all natures of being and of non-being are without mark; and because one sees that the continuum is of itself quiescent, there is thereupon, regarding all dharmas, no mark of continuity or of non-continuity.

Neither bondage nor liberation

"Furthermore, Mahāmati! within that reality there is likewise nothing bound and nothing liberated. It is the rest of those who have fallen into 'not awakening to it as it is' who have bondage and liberation. Why is this said? It is because, within the being and the non-being of all dharmas, there is no sentient being to be found.

The three [kinds of] continuum · the continuum of the five destinies

"Furthermore, Mahāmati! the foolish common person has three kinds of continuum, namely: greed, hatred, and delusion, together with craving for the future and the arising-together of delight-and-craving. Because there are these three kinds of continuum, there is therefore the continuum of destiny, and that continuum runs on into the five destinies. Mahāmati! for the one whose continuum is cut off, there is then no mark of continuity or of non-continuity.

The threefold union of conditions · the continuum of consciousness · the threefold liberation

"Furthermore, Mahāmati! when the three conditions in their union make the contriving that clings, the continuum of consciousness arises without break. Once there is the contriving that clings, there is the continuum. When the consciousness [born] of the threefold union of conditions is cut off, and one sees the threefold liberation, all continuity does not arise."

At that time the World-Honored One, wishing to restate this meaning, spoke in verse:

　　The false imagining that is not real —　this is what is called the mark of the continuum;
　　if one knows that reality,　the net of the continuum is then cut off.
　　Not-knowing regarding the natures of things,　one grasps and takes according to words —
　　just like that silkworm,　weaving its net and binding itself:
　　the foolish common person is bound by false imagining,　and does not contemplate the continuum.

Mahāmati again said to the Buddha: "As the World-Honored One has said, by that particular false imagining one falsely imagines that particular nature; yet there is, in truth, no such intrinsic nature — there is only the nature that is false imagining."

Mahāmati said to the Buddha: "World-Honored One! if there is only the nature that is false imagining, and there is no 'nature' and 'non-nature' set up in mutual dependence, then would this not become the fault the World-Honored One has spoken of, that 'affliction and purity are both without nature'? For all dharmas are of the nature that is false imagining, and are of no nature."

The Buddha told Mahāmati: "It is so, it is so! It is just as you have said. Mahāmati! it is not that the 'intrinsic nature' the foolish common person falsely imagines is real. This nature that is false imagining has not that substance in which 'nature' and 'intrinsic nature' stand over against each other. Mahāmati! as for the intrinsic nature that noble wisdom has — it is seen by noble knowing, noble seeing, and the eye of noble insight; an intrinsic nature such as this is then the knowable."

Mahāmati said to the Buddha: "If, like the noble ones, one knows the intrinsic nature by noble knowing, noble seeing, and the eye of noble insight — not by the divine eye, not by the fleshly eye — knowing it thus, and not like the false imagining of the foolish common person: World-Honored One! then how is the foolish common person to become apart from this false imagining? For he does not awaken to the matter of the noble nature. World-Honored One! he is neither in error nor free of error. Why is this said? It is because he does not awaken to the intrinsic nature of the noble matter, and does not see the mark that is apart from being and non-being. World-Honored One! the noble one, too, does not see and does not falsely imagine as the foolish common person does; for the noble one does not take the realm of the particular mark as his realm. World-Honored One! the foolish common person, too, upon that 'mark of intrinsic nature,' brings up the nature that is false imagining in just this way, yet does not say whether it is with cause or without cause — and so he falls into the view of 'the mark of nature.' What he manifests is other than the realm of the noble one, and is not like that of the noble ones; and thus there comes the fault of 'infinite regress.' World-Honored One! this is because he does not awaken to the mark of intrinsic nature. World-Honored One! that false imagining of his, too, does not have as its cause the mark of intrinsic nature. How then is he to falsely imagine that which is not-false-imagining, and to know as-it-is the false imagining? World-Honored One! false imagining is one thing, and the mark of intrinsic nature is another. World-Honored One! by a cause that is not similar, one raises up the thought of the nature that is false imagining. How then is he, in each and every case, to not falsely imagine? The foolish common person does not know it as-it-is; yet, in order that sentient beings might become apart from false imagining, it is said that 'what is like the mark of false imagining is not as it really is.' World-Honored One! why is it that one restrains sentient beings from clinging, upon the matter of being-and-non-being-views, to intrinsic nature, and yet, upon the realm that noble wisdom walks, clings and falls into the view of being — saying that 'the emptiness-dharma is of no nature,' and speaking instead of that 'intrinsic-nature matter of noble wisdom'?"

The Buddha told Mahāmati: "It is not that I say 'the emptiness-dharma is of no nature,' nor that I fall into the view of being in speaking of the 'intrinsic-nature matter of noble wisdom'; rather, it is in order that sentient beings might become apart from the words and phrases that make for terror. From beginningless time sentient beings have clung to the mark of intrinsic nature, have clung to that intrinsic-nature-mark-view of the matter of noble wisdom, and so the emptiness-dharma is taught for them. Mahāmati! I do not say that there is a 'mark of intrinsic nature.' Mahāmati! it is only that I abide in the 'emptiness-dharma as it really is' that I myself have realized, apart from the mark-view of confusion, apart from the view of 'the being and non-being of one's own mind's manifestation.' I have won the threefold liberation, as sealed by that 'seal of reality-as-it-is.' Upon intrinsic nature, I have won the observation of 'awakening by one's own condition' and abide therein, apart from the view and mark of the matter of being and non-being.

Technical terms of this division (all dharmas non-arising, thesis, the five-membered inference, realization-mastery, teaching-mastery, worldly discourse, the three gates of liberation, the twofold no-self, the two obstructions, nirvāṇa, illusion and dream) are all kept as they stand. The several nirvāṇas that the outsiders reckon are set out one by one, none abridged or merged.

All dharmas non-arising · the bodhisattva should set up no thesis

"Furthermore, Mahāmati! one who says 'all dharmas are non-arising' — the bodhisattva-mahāsattva should not set this up as a thesis. Why so? Because this thesis holds that the nature of all dharmas is in truth no-nature, and holds too that they are the mark of what arises from cause. If 'all dharmas non-arising' is made a thesis, this thesis ruins itself. That the thesis of 'all dharmas non-arising' ruins itself is because this thesis can be established only by way of a correlate. Again, that thesis holds 'non-arising,' yet would enter into all dharmas to teach it — and thereupon its saying that 'the mark is not ruined, the substance does not arise' contradicts itself. So one who sets up 'all dharmas non-arising' as a thesis, his saying ruins itself. Mahāmati! for one who sets up 'existent-and-non-existent both non-arising' as a thesis, the moment this thesis enters into the nature of all dharmas, 'the mark of existence, the mark of non-existence' are alike unfindable. Mahāmati! were that thesis to set up 'the nature of all dharmas is non-arising' as its thesis, in this way too it ruins itself — because the mark of 'existent nature, non-existent nature' is, from the very first, non-arising, and therefore one should set up no thesis. The five-membered inference of logic has faults of many kinds; pursued round and round, the marks of the reason turn out each different, and all of them are made [things] — therefore one should set up no such thesis-member, which is to say: one should set up no thesis of 'all dharmas non-arising,' just as one should likewise set up no thesis of 'all dharmas empty,' or of 'all dharmas without intrinsic nature.'

"Mahāmati! And yet the bodhisattva-mahāsattva ought to say that 'all dharmas are like illusion, like a dream' — because they have the mark of appearing and not-appearing, and because all seeing, all awareness has its faults, one should then say that the nature of all dharmas is like illusion and dream; save only for that one saying spoken to make the foolish leave off their dread. Mahāmati! the foolish common person falls into the view of 'existence' and 'non-existence'; do not let him be frightened, and thereby leave the great vehicle of the Mahāyāna."

At that time the World-Honored One, wishing to restate this meaning, spoke in verse:

　　Without intrinsic nature, without anything to say,　without thing, without continuum —
　　that false imagining of the foolish　is like the evil awareness of a corpse.
　　To say "all dharmas are non-arising"　is not the thesis of the outsiders;
　　said to the very end, there is nothing at all arisen,　the nature being brought about by the many conditions.
　　"All dharmas are non-arising" —　the one with insight forms no such thought;
　　that thesis is still what arises from cause,　and the awakened one demolishes it all.
　　Just as an eye harmed with cataract　falsely sees a mark of hovering hairs,
　　so to cling to the nature of dharmas　is the foolish making a wrong discrimination.
　　Setting up all sorts of things within the three existences,　there is in truth no self-nature of a thing;
　　having set up a self-nature for the thing,　one thought and false imagining arises.
　　Setting up mark and thing as verbal teaching,　the mind runs wild and is shaken to the utmost;
　　the son of the Buddha is able to escape it,　leaving behind all sorts of false imagining.
　　What is in truth not water is taken for the mark of water,　and this arises from thirsting craving;
　　thus is the foolish deluded,　[whereas] what the noble see is not so.
　　What the noble see is pure,　the three liberations and samādhi are born of it,
　　leaving behind birth-and-death,　they roam with nothing to fear.
　　Cultivating practice down to "nothing whatever,"　there is neither existent nature nor non-existent nature;
　　nature and non-nature being equal,　from this the noble fruit is born.
　　What is "nature and non-nature"?　what is called "the equal"?
　　It is that the foolish mind does not know,　and inner and outer are drifting to the utmost;
　　could one but ruin that drifting,　the mind would be equal and would see.

At that time the bodhisattva Mahāmati said to the Buddha: "World-Honored One! as the World-Honored One has said — that as regards the thing taken as object, wisdom takes hold of it and cannot get it, and this is the measure that is set up, the setting-up that is established — the grasper being of no existent nature, the grasped too being of no existent nature; because there is nothing to grasp, wisdom does not arise, [and it is] only the name that is set up. World-Honored One! why is this so — is it because one cannot awaken to the particular mark and the shared mark of dharmas, and cannot tell 'different' from 'not-different,' that wisdom cannot get its hold? Or is it because the particular mark, the shared mark, and the various natures and self-nature-marks are hidden away, that wisdom cannot get [them]? Or is it because there is the barrier of a crag, a stone wall, or earth-water-fire-wind, that wisdom cannot get [them]? Or is it because [a thing] is too far or too near, that wisdom cannot get [it]? Or is it because of old age, or infancy, or blindness, the faculties not being complete, that wisdom cannot get [it]? World-Honored One! if it is because one does not awaken to the difference or not-difference of the particular and shared marks that wisdom cannot get its hold, then it ought not to be called 'wisdom' — it ought to be called 'no-wisdom,' since plainly there is a thing there and yet [wisdom] takes hold and cannot get it. And if it is again because the various particular and shared marks, natures and self-nature-marks are hidden away that wisdom cannot get [them], that too is no-wisdom, and is not wisdom. World-Honored One! it is because there is a 'known object' present that wisdom arises; it is not that, there being no known object, [wisdom] meets with a known object and is then called wisdom. If one says that because of a crag, a stone wall, earth-water-fire-wind, too far or too near, old age, infancy, blindness, the faculties not being complete, wisdom cannot get its hold — that too is not wisdom, but ought to be no-wisdom, since plainly there is a thing there and yet [wisdom] takes hold and cannot get it."

The Buddha told Mahāmati: "It is not so; you have taken no-wisdom for wisdom, [when] in truth it is not 'not-wisdom.' It is not thus that I taught it. I said that as regards the thing taken as object wisdom takes hold and cannot get it, and this is the measure that is set up, [the setting-up] established. It is to say: awakening to what is the measure of one's own mind's manifestation, then as regards 'existence, non-existence' and the 'existent nature, non-existent nature' of the outer objective realm, wisdom takes hold of the thing and cannot get it. Because it cannot get it, wisdom does not arise as regards the known object. In accord with the three liberations, wisdom too is alike unattainable. It is not the false-imagining man, who as regards the nature and non-nature of the false habit-wisdom that is beginningless makes this kind of knowing — knowing that which is fundamentally unknowable. So as regards the place of outer things, taking a nature that has a mark for no-nature, false imagining does not cease. He, upon what is the measure of his own mind's manifestation, sets up and speaks of the mark of 'I and mine,' grasping and clinging. He does not awaken to its being the measure of his own mind's manifestation, and as regards wisdom and the known object raises false imagining. And because of false imagining, thereupon as regards the existent nature and non-nature of the outer objective realm he examines and cannot get [it], and so leans upon the annihilation-view."

At that time the World-Honored One, wishing to restate this meaning, spoke in verse:

　　As regards the various things taken as object,　wisdom does not examine them,
　　this no-wisdom is not wisdom,　[so] says the false-imagining man.
　　As regards the mark and nature of 'not-different,'　wisdom does not examine [them],
　　barred off by hindrance and by far-and-near —　this is called wrong wisdom.
　　Old age, infancy, the faculties dim,　and wisdom does not arise,
　　[when] plainly there is a known object present —　this too is called wrong wisdom.

Realization-mastery and teaching-mastery: apart from the false imagining of one's own mind's manifestation

"Furthermore, Mahāmati! the foolish common person is turned this way and that by the beginningless, false, evil-and-crooked imaginings; and being so turned, as regards 'realization-mastery' and 'teaching-mastery' he cannot rightly know [them]. Clinging to the mark of the outer objective realm that is his own mind's manifestation, clinging to the verbal teaching of expedients, as regards the mastery-mark of the [tenet]-school itself — 'apart from the four alternatives and pure' — he cannot rightly discriminate."

Mahāmati said to the Buddha: "It is just as the Honored One instructs. Would that the World-Honored One might discriminate and expound for me 'teaching-mastery' and 'realization-mastery,' so that I and the rest of the bodhisattva-mahāsattvas, being skilled in these two masteries, might leave the common people, śrāvakas, and pratyekabuddhas of the future age unable to find any fault in us."

The Buddha told Mahāmati: "Well done, well done! Listen closely and closely, [and] think well upon it; I shall teach it for you."

Mahāmati said to the Buddha: "So it is; I receive the teaching."

The Buddha told Mahāmati: "The Tathāgatas of the three times have two kinds of dharma-mastery, namely: teaching-mastery, and realization-mastery of the [tenet]-school itself. What is called teaching-mastery is to say: according to what the minds of sentient beings will respond to, teaching for them all sorts of many sūtras. This is called teaching-mastery. What is called realization-mastery of the [tenet]-school itself is to say: the man who cultivates practice is apart from the various false imaginings that are his own mind's manifestation. That is to say: he does not fall into such classes as 'one and different,' 'both and not-both,' and passes beyond all mind, mentation, and mental consciousness. That realm of noble self-realization, apart from the seeing-mark brought about by causes — all the outsiders, śrāvakas, and pratyekabuddhas, those men who fall into the two extremes, are unable to know it. I call this the dharma of realization-mastery of the [tenet]-school itself. Mahāmati! this is called the mark of realization-mastery of the [tenet]-school itself and of teaching-mastery. You and the rest of the bodhisattva-mahāsattvas should train in it."

At that time the World-Honored One, wishing to restate this meaning, spoke in verse:

　　I teach two kinds of mastery,　namely realization-mastery and verbal teaching,
　　verbal teaching is for instructing the ignorant child,　realization-mastery is for the man who cultivates practice.

Take great care not to habituate to worldly discourse: the dragon-form subduing Śakra

At that time the bodhisattva Mahāmati said to the Buddha: "World-Honored One! as the World-Honored One once said: 'The world's many disputations, its many arguings — take great care not to draw near and habituate to them. If one habituates to them, one seizes only craving and desire, one does not seize the right dharma.' Why did the World-Honored One make this kind of saying?"

The Buddha told Mahāmati: "Worldly verbal discourse, with all sorts of phrases, flavors, causes, and figures, gathered and habituated to and thereby made ornate, is used to lure and delude and deceive the foolish common people. It cannot enter the true ground of self-mastery, it cannot awaken to all dharmas, [being] false imagining upside-down, falling into the two extremes. The foolish, deluded by delusion, themselves ruin their right view, and thereupon in the various destinies flow on unbroken and do not gain liberation; unable to awaken to its being the measure of their own mind's manifestation, not apart from the self-nature of the outer objective realm, they falsely imagine and cling. So worldly verbal discourse, its many arguings, cannot be free of birth-old-age-sickness-death, grief-sorrow-suffering-vexation — it is only a deluding and confounding. Mahāmati! Śakra, lord of the devas, understanding widely the many disputations, himself composed a treatise on sound. That worldly-discourse man had a disciple who, taking the form of a dragon, came to the palace of Śakra's heaven, set up a thesis, and made it his aim to break Śakra's thousand-spoked precious wheel. He made this pact: 'If I am not your match, I shall cut off my heads one by one, to atone for being worsted.' Having made this pact, he then with Śakra's own [logic-]method subdued Śakra. Śakra fell into the loser's place, and that disciple thereupon broke his wheel and came back to the human world. Just so, Mahāmati! worldly verbal discourse, ornamenting itself with cause and figure — even a beast is able, with all sorts of phrases and flavors, to delude those devas and asuras, making them cling to the view of arising-and-ceasing, how much more a man. Therefore, Mahāmati! worldly verbal discourse should be kept far from, because it is a cause bringing on the arising of suffering; take great care not to draw near and habituate to it. Mahāmati! that worldly-discourse man teaches only the realm of bodily awareness. Mahāmati! those worldly-discourse men run indeed to hundreds and thousands; but in a later time, after five hundred years, they will ruin this compilation. Because evil awareness and evil views run rampant, evil disciples will take it up. Just so, Mahāmati! worldly discourse ruins the compilation, ornamenting itself with all sorts of phrases, flavors, causes, and figures, teaching the affairs of the outsiders, clinging to its own causes and conditions, and having no true self-mastery. Mahāmati! those outsiders have no discourse of self-mastery, and as regards the rest of worldly discourse expound at large measureless hundreds and thousands of subject-gates, having no self-mastery, and not themselves knowing that it is foolish worldly discourse."

At that time Mahāmati said to the Buddha: "World-Honored One! if the outsiders' worldly discourse, ornamented with all sorts of phrases, flavors, causes, and figures, has no self-mastery and clings only to its own affairs — then the World-Honored One too teaches worldly discourse, expounding for the many assemblies come from other quarters, [for] devas, men, and asuras, at large all sorts of measureless phrases and flavors. Is this too, then, not self-mastery? And is it too to be reckoned within the number of all the outsiders' wisdom-and-verbal-teaching?"

The Buddha told Mahāmati: "I do not teach worldly discourse, [and] there is no such thing as coming or going; I teach only 'not-coming, not-going.' Mahāmati! what is called 'coming' is to run toward a gathering and be born; what is called 'going' is to disperse and be ruined. What is called 'not-coming, not-going' is just not-arising, not-ceasing. What I teach does not fall within the number of the false imagining of worldly discourse. Why is this so? It is to say: not clinging to the existent nature or non-nature of the outer objective realm, [but] right at the place of one's own mind's manifestation. The false imagining of the two extremes cannot turn it. Mark and objective realm being of no existent nature, awakening to their being one's own mind's manifestation, then at the place of one's own mind's manifestation false imagining does not arise. False imagining not arising is just emptiness, marklessness, wishlessness — entering the three gates of liberation, and this is called liberation. Mahāmati! I recall that once I dwelt at a certain place. There was a worldly-discourse brahmin who came to where I was. Without waiting to be invited, and not at a leisured hour, he asked me, saying: 'Gautama! is all a made thing?' I answered then: 'Brahmin! to say "all is a made thing" is the first kind of worldly discourse.' He asked again: 'Is all not a made thing?' I again answered him: 'To say "all is not made" is the second kind of worldly discourse.' He asked again: 'Is all eternal? is all impermanent? is all arising? is all not-arising?' I answered him then: 'These are six kinds of worldly discourse.' Mahāmati! he asked me again: 'Is all one? is all different? is all both? is all not-both? is all born and made manifest by all sorts of causes?' I answered him then: 'These are eleven kinds of worldly discourse.' Mahāmati! he asked again: 'Is all undetermined? is all determined? is there a self? is there no self? is there this world? is there no this world? is there another world? is there no other world? is there liberation? is there no liberation? is all a momentary [thing]? is all not momentary? is there space? is there cessation-not-by-discernment? is there nirvāṇa? Gautama! is it made? is it not-made? is there an intermediate existence? is there no intermediate existence?' Mahāmati! I answered him then: 'Brahmin! what is spoken in this way is one and all worldly discourse, not what I teach; it is your worldly discourse. I teach only this: that the beginningless, false, false-imagining habit-energy, all its various evils, is the cause of the three existences; that being unable to awaken to its being the measure of one's own mind's manifestation, one raises false imagining and reaches out to the outer objective realm. Like the dharma of the outsiders, who say "when my faculties, the outer meaning, and this self of mine — these three — meet, then wisdom arises," it is not thus that I teach. Brahmin! I teach neither that there is a cause nor that there is no cause. I teach only that the grasping-and-grasped nature of false imagining sets up dependent-arising — [and] this is not what you can reach, nor what the rest, who fall into the continuum of "receiving a self," can awaken to.' Mahāmati! nirvāṇa, space, and cessation are not that there are these three [as] substance; it is only in name and number that there are three."

The worldly-discourse brahmin asks again: delusion-craving-action as cause · all entering the particular-and-shared mark

"Furthermore, Mahāmati! at that time the worldly-discourse brahmin asked me again, saying: 'Is it because of delusion, craving, and action — these causes — that there are the three existences? or is it without cause?' I answered him then: 'These two sayings too are both only worldly discourse.' He asked again: 'Do the natures of all dharmas enter into the particular mark and the shared mark?' I again answered him: 'This too is worldly discourse. Brahmin! down to the flowing of a thought and the false reckoning of the outer dust — it is one and all worldly discourse.'"

The worldly-discourse brahmin's third question: is there a "non-worldly-discourse"

"Furthermore, Mahāmati! at that time the worldly-discourse brahmin asked me again, saying: 'Is there such a thing as a "non-worldly-discourse"? I am the tenet-lord of all the outsiders, teaching all sorts of phrases, flavors, causes, and figures [made] ornate.' I answered him again: 'Brahmin! there is — only it is not the kind that you have: it is not a made [thing], not [your kind of] thesis, not [your kind of] teaching, and not not-teaching all sorts of phrases and flavors, not not-ornamenting with cause and figure.' The brahmin said: 'What is it to be called non-worldly-discourse, non-"non-thesis," non-"non-teaching"?' I answered him then: 'Brahmin! there is a non-worldly-discourse that you outsiders are unable to know, because as regards the outer objective realm you unreally make a false-imagining reckoning-and-clinging. It is to say: false imagining does not arise, [there is] awakening to "existence, non-existence" as alike the measure of one's own mind's manifestation. False imagining not arising, one then does not take in the outer dust. False imagining forever stilled — this is called non-worldly-discourse. This is my dharma, not the kind that you have. Brahmin! to speak briefly of that consciousness: whether coming or going, whether dying or being born, whether pleasure or suffering, whether sinking or seeing, whether touching or clinging, all sorts of marks; whether combining, [whether] continuum, whether receiving, whether clinging to a cause. Brahmin! such kinds as these are one and all your worldly discourse, not the kind that I have.' Mahāmati! that worldly-discourse brahmin, asking in this way, I answered in this way. He then fell silent, and without taking leave withdrew. He turned over in his mind his own place of self-mastery, [and] formed this thought: 'That śramaṇa son-of-the-Śākyas — he stands outside [our] masteries, teaching "no-arising, no-mark, no-cause, awakening to the false-imagined manifestation of one's own [mind], false imagining not arising."' Mahāmati! this is what you asked me before: 'Why is it that to draw near and habituate to worldly discourse and its many arguings is to seize craving and desire and not to seize the dharma?'"

Mahāmati said to the Buddha: "World-Honored One! 'seizing craving and desire' and 'seizing the dharma' — what are the phrase-meanings of these?"

The Buddha told Mahāmati: "Well done, well done! that you are able, for the sentient beings of the future, to reflect and inquire of such phrase-meanings. Listen closely and closely, [and] think well upon it; I shall teach it for you."

Mahāmati said to the Buddha: "So it is; I receive the teaching."

The Buddha told Mahāmati: "What is called craving is to say: whether grasping, whether casting off, whether touching, whether savoring, [one is] bound and clinging to the outer dust, falling into the view of the two extremes. And there arises again the aggregate of suffering, bringing on birth-old-age-sickness-death, grief-sorrow-suffering-vexation. These calamities all arise from craving — [and] this comes of drawing near and habituating to worldly discourse and to the worldly-discourse men. I, and the buddhas, call this craving. This is called seizing craving and desire, [and] not seizing the dharma. Mahāmati! what is it to be called seizing the dharma? It is to say: being well able to awaken to the measure of one's own mind's manifestation, seeing the no-self of persons and the mark of the no-self of dharmas, false imagining does not arise. Rightly knowing the sequence from the lower ground to the upper ground, apart from mind, mentation, and mental consciousness, one gains the wisdom-consecration of all the buddhas, is furnished in full with the seizing of the 'ten inexhaustible phrases,' and as regards all dharmas is sovereign without need of contriving — this is called the dharma. It is to say: not falling into all views, all falsity, all false imagining, all natures-of-dharmas, all the two extremes. Mahāmati! there are many foolish outsiders who fall into the two extremes — clinging now to the eternal, now to annihilation, [being] not men of keen insight. Having received the doctrine of 'no-cause,' they raise the view of the eternal; ruining the outer cause and the causes-and-conditions into no existent nature, they raise the view of annihilation. Mahāmati! it is because I do not see 'arising, abiding, ceasing' that I speak of the name 'dharma.' Mahāmati! this is what is called craving-and-desire and the dharma. You and the rest of the bodhisattva-mahāsattvas should train in it."

At that time the World-Honored One, wishing to restate this meaning, spoke in verse:

　　All the world's disputations　are the outsiders' false and empty teaching,
　　falsely seeing 'a maker, a made' —　they have no true tenet-school of their own.
　　Only this one tenet-school of mine,　apart from 'a maker, a made,'
　　is taught for the disciples,　that they may leave behind all sorts of worldly discourse.
　　The measure of mind is fundamentally unfindable,　examine not those grasper-and-grasped two minds;
　　grasper and grasped are alike of no existent nature,　the two views of annihilation and the eternal are both left behind,
　　[but] down to a single flowing of the mind,　and it becomes worldly discourse.
　　The man whose false imagining does not turn,　this man then sees his own mind,
　　what is called 'coming' says the thing is born,　what is called 'going' says the thing does not appear.
　　Understanding going-and-coming plainly and clearly,　false imagining then no longer arises,
　　the eternal and the impermanent,　a maker and no maker,
　　this world, the other world, and the rest —　all these are the "worldly-discourse mastery."

The several distinct nirvāṇas of the outsiders

At that time the bodhisattva Mahāmati again said to the Buddha: "World-Honored One! this 'nirvāṇa' that is spoken of — what kind of dharma is it that is called nirvāṇa, that the outsiders should each raise all sorts of false imagining [about it]?"

The Buddha told Mahāmati: "Listen closely and closely, [and] think well upon it; I shall teach it for you. Such nirvāṇas as the outsiders falsely imagine are not the false imagining that can accord with nirvāṇa."

Mahāmati said to the Buddha: "So it is; I receive the teaching."

The Buddha told Mahāmati:

"There are outsiders who, having made the aggregates, elements, and sense-fields all cease, free of desire toward the objective realm, seeing dharmas to be impermanent, making mind and mental factors of one class not arise, not calling to mind the objects of past, future, and present, the aggregates of feeling exhausted — like a lamp's flame gone out, like a seed spoiled, [with] false imagining not arising — this class of men, upon this, form the thought of 'nirvāṇa.' Mahāmati! it is not by the 'ruin of seeing' that [a thing] is called nirvāṇa.

"Mahāmati! there are [those] who take 'going from this quarter to that quarter' for liberation, the thought of the objective realm ceasing, as if the wind were stilled.

"There are [those] again who take 'the seeing of grasp-and-grasped being ruined' for liberation.

"There are [those] who see 'the eternal and the impermanent,' [and] form the thought of liberation.

"There are [those] who see that all sorts of mark-thoughts bring on the cause of the arising of suffering, [and] having reflected on this, are yet unable to awaken well to its being the measure of one's own mind's manifestation, and so, dreading what has a mark, they see a marklessness, and deeply raise a love-and-delight [in it], forming the thought of 'nirvāṇa.'

"There are [those] who awaken to the particular mark and shared mark of inner and outer dharmas, [and] as regards past, future, and present [see] an 'existent nature' that is not ruined, [and] form the thought of 'nirvāṇa.'

"There are [those] who say that 'self, person, sentient being, life-span, and all dharmas are ruined,' [and] form the thought of 'nirvāṇa.'

"There are [those] who, with that outsider-wisdom scorched by evil views, see an 'intrinsic nature' and a 'Person,' [and hold that] between those two, [what is] issued forth by the Person is named intrinsic nature — like the Sāṃkhya's 'primordial-obscure' by analogy, transformed by the 'guṇas' (the three qualities), the 'guṇas' being the maker — [and] form the thought of 'nirvāṇa.'

"There are [those] who say that 'merit and non-merit are exhausted'; there are [those] who say that 'the afflictions are exhausted'; there are [those] who say that 'it is wisdom.'

"There are [those] who see that 'the Sovereign Lord is real, is the maker of birth-and-death,' [and] form the thought of 'nirvāṇa.'

"There are [those] who say that 'in turn one thing gives birth to another, and birth-and-death has no other cause besides' — [and] thus they reckon there being a cause, [while] that foolish man is unable to awaken to it; because he does not know, he forms the thought of 'nirvāṇa.'

"There are outsiders who say that 'the way of the [ultimate] truth has been attained,' [and] form the thought of 'nirvāṇa.'

"There are [those] who see that 'merit and the combining that arises from merit — [whether] one, different, both, not-both,' [and] form the thought of 'nirvāṇa.'

"There are [those] who see that 'what is issued from intrinsic nature' — like the patterns on a peacock, the many kinds of miscellaneous gems, and the nature of sharp thorns and the like, being naturally so — [and] having seen it, form the thought of 'nirvāṇa.'

"Mahāmati! there are [those] who awaken to 'the twenty-five reals (principles)'; there are [those] who, [holding that] 'a king guards the country and receives the doctrine of the six virtues,' form the thought of 'nirvāṇa.'

"There are [those] who see that 'Time is the maker,' saying that the seasons are able to make the world — thus awakening, [they] form the thought of 'nirvāṇa.'

"There are [those] who say it is an 'existent nature,' [those] who say it is a 'non-nature,' [those] who say [there is] a 'knowing of nature-and-non-nature,' [those] who see that 'there is a "awareness" that is distinct from nirvāṇa,' [and] form the thought of 'nirvāṇa.'

"There are such kinds of all sorts of false imagining as these, taught by the outsiders, [what is] not established yet spoken as established, [what] is cast off by the wise. Mahāmati! all such [things] as these fall, one and all, into the two extremes, and form the thought of 'nirvāṇa.' In such kinds of the outsiders' false imagining of nirvāṇa, there is in truth no 'arising' at all within it, no 'ceasing.' Mahāmati! that each and every one of the outsiders' nirvāṇas is [only] their several own doctrines; examined with wisdom, they set up nothing at all. Like the coming-and-going of the false-imagining mind and its thought, drifting and racing and flowing, there is in it all not one that attains nirvāṇa.

"Mahāmati! the nirvāṇa I teach is to say: being well able to awaken to the measure of one's own mind's manifestation, not clinging to the nature of the outer objective realm, apart from the four alternatives, seeing the place as-it-really-is, not following the two extremes of the false imagining of one's own mind's manifestation, [so that] grasper and grasped are alike unfindable. All measures being seen to set up nothing, [what is] foolish as to the real should not be seized. Having cast those off, one gains the noble dharma of self-realization. Knowing the twofold no-self, apart from the two kinds of affliction, cleansing away the two obstructions, forever apart from the two kinds of death; reaching that highest-of-high ground, the Tathāgata-ground, [with] such profound samādhis as [seeing all] like a shadow, like an illusion, apart from mind, mentation, and mental consciousness — this at last is named nirvāṇa. Mahāmati! you and the rest of the bodhisattva-mahāsattvas should train in it, should quickly keep far from all the outsiders' several nirvāṇa-views."

At that time the World-Honored One, wishing to restate this meaning, spoke in verse:

　　The outsiders' nirvāṇa-views,　each raising its own false imagining,
　　all arise from the thought of the mind,　[being] without the means of liberation.
　　The men foolish as to 'the bound and the binder,'　are far from skillful means,
　　the outsiders' thought of liberation —　liberation in the end is not born.
　　The many wisdom-views each run their divergent ways,　[being] the mastery the outsiders see,
　　they are one and all without liberation,　because of foolish and false imagining.
　　All the foolish outsiders,　falsely see 'a maker, a made,'
　　setting up the classing of 'existent, non-existent' —　they are one and all without liberation.
　　The foolish love and delight in false imagining,　unable to hear the wisdom of the real,
　　verbal speech is the root of the three sufferings,　the real is the cause that ends suffering.
　　Just as an image in a mirror,　though it appears is not truly existent,
　　upon the mirror of the mind of false imagining,　the foolish see there being grasp-and-grasped, the two.
　　Not recognizing mind and condition,　they then raise the grasp-and-grasped, the two false imaginings,
　　understanding mind and the objective realm,　false imagining then does not arise.
　　Mind itself is the all sorts [of things],　apart from 'the mark and the marked,'
　　the thing appears yet in truth there is nothing appearing,　just like the foolish man's false imagining.
　　The three existences are only false imagining,　the meaning of the outer objective realm is all without existence,
　　false imagining manifests all sorts [of things],　[which] the foolish are unable to understand.
　　The false imagining that sūtra after sūtra teaches　in the end does not get past 'name,'
　　were one apart from verbal speech,　there would then be nothing taught at all.

Technical terms of this division (Perfectly Awakened One, the Tathāgata, Worthy One, Perfectly Awakened One, the four propositions, the mind-made body, the Tathāgata's other names, the three asaṃkhyeya, arising-and-ceasing, self-nature nirvāṇa, the gandharva-city, the linked chain, the one-vehicle dharma) are kept as they stand.

〔Question〕Mahāmati asks: is the Tathāgata made or unmade · are such phrases as these different or not-different?

At that time the bodhisattva-mahāsattva Mahāmati said to the Buddha: "World-Honored One! I only pray that you expound for us the 'Perfectly Awakened One,' so that I and the other bodhisattva-mahāsattvas may all be skilled in understanding the self-nature of the Tathāgata, both awakening ourselves and awakening others."

The Buddha told Mahāmati: "Ask as you please, and I shall explain for you, one by one, whatever you ask."

Mahāmati said to the Buddha: "World-Honored One! The Tathāgata, Worthy One, Perfectly Awakened One — is he made? or unmade? Is he a thing? or a cause? Is he the mark-bearer? or the marked? Is he the sayer? or the said? Is he the awakener? or the awakened? Such various phrases as these — are they in the end different, or not-different?"

〔Answer〕The Tathāgata is neither a thing nor a cause · neither being nor non-being · passing beyond the four propositions

The Buddha told Mahāmati: "The Tathāgata, Worthy One, Perfectly Awakened One, with respect to such various phrases as these, is neither a 'thing' nor a 'cause.' Why? Because both ways there is a fault. Mahāmati! Were the Tathāgata a 'thing,' then he would be either made, or impermanent; and being impermanent, then all things whatsoever would have to be the Tathāgata — which is what I and all the buddhas would not consent to. Were it said that he is 'not made,' then nothing at all is attained, and all the skillful means become empty, like a hare's horns, like a barren woman's child, since there is nothing there at all. Mahāmati! Were it said that he is neither a thing nor a cause, then he is neither-being-nor-non-being; and being neither-being-nor-non-being, he passes beyond the four propositions. What are called the four propositions are the sayings of the world; passing beyond the four propositions, he does not fall into the four propositions; and just because he does not fall into the four propositions, he is taken up by the wise. So too are the phrase and meaning of all the Tathāgatas — the one with insight should know it thus.

"As with what I have said, that 'all dharmas are without self': one should know that this meaning is — that the very nature 'no-self' is itself without self. All dharmas have their own self-nature, but not the nature of another, just like an ox or a horse. Mahāmati! Just as the ox is not of the horse's nature, nor the horse of the ox's nature — the reality of them is neither being nor non-being, yet it is not that they are without each their own particular mark. Just so, Mahāmati! all dharmas whatsoever are neither without their own particular mark nor really possessed of a particular mark; only, this principle is not what the fool can know — because the fool, by reason of false imagining, [clings to being and non-being]. Just so, all dharmas are empty, are unarisen, are without self-nature — one should know it thus.

The Tathāgata and the aggregates · elements · sense-fields · liberation · knowledge · the knowable are neither-different-nor-not-different

"Just so, the Tathāgata and the five aggregates are neither-different nor not-different. Were he not-different from the aggregates, then he would have to be impermanent; were he different from the aggregates, then all the skillful means would become empty. Were it said they are two [and separate], then there would have to be a difference between them, like the two horns of an ox — resembling in form, and so we say not-different; long and short being distinct, and so we say different — and so it is with all dharmas. Mahāmati! Just as the right horn of the ox is different from the left, and the left from the right, and in length and shortness and their various colored forms each differs from the rest. Mahāmati! The Tathāgata, with respect to the aggregates, elements, and sense-fields, is neither-different nor not-different. Just so, the Tathāgata and liberation are neither-different nor not-different; it is by 'liberation' that the Tathāgata is named. Were the Tathāgata different from liberation, then he would have to be composed of a form-mark; and being composed of a form-mark, he would have to be impermanent. Were it said not-different, then when the practitioner attains, he ought to be at one with the Tathāgata without distinction — yet the practitioner plainly sees that there is a distinction. Therefore we say: neither-different, and yet not not-different. Just so, knowledge and the knowable are neither-different nor not-different.

"Mahāmati! Knowledge and the knowable are neither-different nor not-different — which is to say of it: neither eternal nor impermanent, neither a doer nor a thing done, neither conditioned nor unconditioned, neither awakener nor awakened, neither mark-bearer nor marked, neither aggregate nor other than the aggregates, neither sayer nor said, neither one nor different, neither both-together nor not-both-together. Just because it is neither-one-nor-different, neither-both-nor-not-both, it is wholly apart from every measure. Being apart from every measure, there is no saying; there being no saying, there is no arising; there being no arising, there is no ceasing; there being no ceasing, it is quiescence; being quiescent, it is self-nature nirvāṇa; being self-nature nirvāṇa, it is without thing and without cause; being without thing and without cause, it is without anything to lean upon; being without anything to lean upon, it passes beyond every falsity; passing beyond every falsity, it is the Tathāgata; and the Tathāgata is just the Perfectly Awakened One. Mahāmati! This is what is called the Perfectly Awakened One. What is called the 'Awakened One' is apart from every faculty-measure."

The verse of restatement (wholly apart from the measure of the faculties)

At that time the World-Honored One, wishing to restate this meaning, spoke in verse:

　　Wholly apart from the measure of the faculties,　without thing and without cause,
　　apart from both awakener and awakened,　apart from both mark-bearer and marked.
　　That "Perfectly Awakened" conditioned upon the aggregates　can be seen as neither one nor different;
　　there being none at all who could see it,　how then should one discriminate?
　　Neither made nor unmade,　neither a thing nor a cause,
　　neither within the aggregates nor apart from them,　nor yet mixed with anything else,
　　nor really possessed of various natures,　as those men see in their false imagining.
　　One should know it is also not non-being,　this dharma is of itself just so;
　　because there is "being," one speaks of "non-being,"　because there is "non-being," one speaks of "being";
　　if one says non-being, then one should not take it up,　if one says being, then one should not dwell on it.
　　There are those who, upon "self" and "not-self,"　turn round and round within the measure of saying,
　　sunk in the two extremes of being and non-being,　ruining both themselves and the world.
　　Liberated from every fault, contemplating rightly　the path I have penetrated —
　　this is what is called right contemplation, and this alone does not fail the great guide 〔the Buddha〕.

〔Question〕Mahāmati asks: is "neither arising nor ceasing" said because [dharmas] are without nature · or is it another name for the Tathāgata?

At that time the bodhisattva Mahāmati again said to the Buddha: "World-Honored One! As the World-Honored One has said, in the sūtras is taken up the meaning of 'neither arising nor ceasing'; and the World-Honored One has also said that 'neither arising nor ceasing' is another name for the Tathāgata. So then, World-Honored One — is it because dharmas are without nature that you say 'neither arising nor ceasing'? Or is 'neither arising nor ceasing' just another name for the Tathāgata?"

The Buddha told Mahāmati: "I say that all dharmas neither arise nor cease, because the two categories of 'being' and 'non-being' do not appear."

Mahāmati said to the Buddha: "World-Honored One! If all dharmas are unarising, then what is taken up cannot be attained, since all dharmas are unarising. But if, within the name, there truly is a dharma, I pray you expound it for me."

The Buddha told Mahāmati: "Excellent, excellent! Listen closely now! Ponder well, and I shall discriminate and explain for you."

Mahāmati said to the Buddha: "Yes, I receive the teaching."

〔Answer〕The Tathāgata is not without nature · "unarising" is another name for the Tathāgata · one thing with many names · the three-asaṃkhyeya names

The Buddha told Mahāmati: "I say that the Tathāgata is not without nature; nor do I say that 'neither arising nor ceasing' takes up and encompasses all dharmas; nor do I say that the Tathāgata waits upon some condition to be neither-arising-nor-ceasing; still less that it is without meaning. Mahāmati! What I have called the 'mind-made body' is just the Tathāgata's name; and that 'unarising' is not the province of any of the outsiders, the śrāvakas, the pratyekabuddhas, on up to the bodhisattvas of the seventh abode. Mahāmati! that 'unarising' is another name for the Tathāgata. Mahāmati! Just as Indra has such names as 'Indra,' 'Śakra,' 'Puraṃdara' — so likewise the various things of the world, each and every one, has many names, yet it is not that because the names are many there are many distinct natures, nor is it that there is no self-nature at all. Just so, Mahāmati! I, in this Sahā world 〔'Sahā' being rendered "able to endure"〕, have three asaṃkhyeya hundred-thousand names; and the fools all hear them, and each pronounces a name of mine, yet do not understand that these are the Tathāgata's other names.

"Mahāmati! Among sentient beings: some know me as 'Tathāgata,' some know me as 'the All-Knowing,' some know me as 'Buddha,' some as 'World-Rescuer,' some as 'Self-Awakened,' some as 'Guide,' some as 'Vast-Guide,' some as 'All-Guide,' some as 'Sage,' some as 'Brahmā,' some as 'Viṣṇu,' some as 'the Sovereign,' some as 'the Victor,' some as 'Kapila,' some as 'the True Limit,' some as 'the Moon,' some as 'the Sun,' some as 'the Arising,' some as 'the Unarisen,' some as 'the Unceasing,' some as 'Emptiness,' some as 'Suchness,' some as 'Truth,' some as 'the Reality-Limit,' some as 'Dharma-nature,' some as 'Nirvāṇa,' some as 'the Constant,' some as 'the Even,' some as 'the Non-dual,' some as 'the Markless,' some as 'Liberation,' some as 'the Path,' some as 'Mind-made.'

The names neither increase nor decrease · like the moon in water · framing a thought of "without nature" upon "neither arising nor ceasing"

"Mahāmati! Such three asaṃkhyeya hundred-thousand names as these neither increase nor decrease. This world and all the other worlds know me one and all, as it were the moon in water, which neither goes out nor comes in. Yet those fools cannot know me, because they fall into the two extremes of being and non-being. Though they too, one and all, revere and make offerings to me, they are not skilled in understanding the sense and drift of these phrases; they cannot tell the names apart 〔the names being one while the meanings are each distinct〕, nor can they of themselves penetrate through, but only cling to the various sayings and textual phrases; and thereupon, concerning 'neither arising nor ceasing,' they frame the thought of 'without nature' 〔mistaking it for a cut-off and non-being〕, not understanding that the Tathāgata's names, though they differ 〔while the substance is one〕, are just as Indra has the names Indra, Śakra, Puraṃdara. Unable of themselves to penetrate through and return to that ultimate, they thereupon, concerning all dharmas, cling as their saying goes.

Meaning is apart from saying · dharma is apart from the letter · not one word is spoken

"Mahāmati! Those benighted ones speak thus: 'Meaning is just the same as saying; meaning and saying are not two. Why? Because meaning has no body of its own, and apart from saying there is no further meaning — it all comes to rest in saying, and no more.' Mahāmati! Their wisdom has been scorched and ruined by evil views; they do not understand the self-nature of saying, do not understand that saying has arising and ceasing while meaning has neither arising nor ceasing. Mahāmati! All saying falls within the letter; but meaning does not fall within the letter. Meaning, because it is apart from 'nature' and 'non-nature,' has no reception of birth and no body of its own. Mahāmati! The Tathāgata does not speak a dharma that falls within the letter, for the being and non-being of the letter are alike not to be attained — save only that 'which does not fall within the letter.' Mahāmati! Whoever should say that what the Tathāgata speaks is a dharma falling within the letter — that is false speech, for the dharma is apart from the letter. Therefore, Mahāmati! I and the buddhas and the bodhisattvas do not speak a single word, do not answer with a single word. Why? Because the dharma is apart from the letter — yet this is not to say that there is no beneficial speaking of the meaning. There is speaking because of the false imagining of sentient beings. Mahāmati! Were no dharma at all to be spoken, then the teaching would be ruined; and the teaching ruined, there would be no buddhas, bodhisattvas, pratyekabuddhas, or śrāvakas; and these being no more, who then would speak, and for whom? Therefore, Mahāmati! the bodhisattva-mahāsattva should not cling to saying, but, following what befits the occasion, should expound the scriptural dharma at large by skillful means. Because the hopes and defilements of sentient beings are each distinct, I and the buddhas, for those beings of various understandings, speak dharmas of various kinds, that they may become apart from mind, mentation, and mental consciousness — and not that they should attain that resort of the noble wisdom of self-realization 〔which is beyond the reach of saying〕.

Rely on the meaning, not the letter · like a finger pointing at a thing · the infant and cooked food · training well in skillful means

"Mahāmati! One is to awaken, upon all dharmas, to 'there is nothing there,' to awaken that they are all the measure of one's own mind's manifestation, apart from the two false imaginings of 'grasper and grasped.' The bodhisattva-mahāsattvas rely upon the meaning, not upon the letter. If a son or daughter of good family relies only upon the letter, then he himself ruins the ultimate truth, and cannot awaken others, but falls into evil views and, unbroken, keeps expounding for the multitude; he is not skilled in understanding all dharmas, all grounds, all marks, nor does he understand the textual phrases. But if one can well understand all dharmas, all grounds, all marks, penetrate the textual phrases, and be fully furnished with 'nature' and 'meaning' — then he can, with that right markless bliss, delight himself, and with the even great-vehicle establish sentient beings. Mahāmati! Whoever takes in the great vehicle takes in the buddhas, bodhisattvas, pratyekabuddhas, and śrāvakas; whoever takes in the buddhas, bodhisattvas, pratyekabuddhas, and śrāvakas takes in all sentient beings; whoever takes in all sentient beings takes in the true dharma; whoever takes in the true dharma — the buddha-seed is not cut off; the buddha-seed being uncut, he can understand and attain the excellent place of entry. Knowing that he has attained the excellent place of entry, the bodhisattva-mahāsattva, ever able to take birth by transformation 〔to be born at will〕, establishes the great vehicle, and with the ten kinds of sovereign power manifests all sorts of form-images, penetrating the forms and kinds, the hopes, the defilements, and all the various marks of sentient beings, and expounds the dharma as it really is. What is 'as it really is' is 'not-different' 〔not-two with suchness〕; what is 'as it really is' is that mark of no-coming and no-going, in which all falsity has come to rest — and this is what is called 'as it really is.'

"Mahāmati! A son or daughter of good family should not take up the sickness of 'clinging as the saying goes'; the true meaning is apart from the letter. Mahāmati! It is as when one points at a thing with a finger for a fool, and the fool only stares fixedly at the finger and does not get the true meaning. Just so, the fool, following this finger of saying, grasps and clings, and to the very end will not let go, and so can never become apart from the finger of saying and get that first, true meaning. Mahāmati! Just as an infant should eat cooked food and should not eat it raw; were he to eat it raw, it would drive him mad — because he does not understand that one must, in due sequence, by skillful means, get the food cooked. Mahāmati! Just so, concerning 'neither arising nor ceasing,' if one does not cultivate it by skillful means, one is unskilled. Therefore one should skillfully cultivate skillful means, and not merely follow the saying, like one who stares fixedly at the fingertip. Therefore, Mahāmati! concerning the true meaning, one should cultivate by skillful means. The true meaning is subtle, quiescent, the cause of nirvāṇa; saying, on the other hand, is joined with false imagining; and false imagining is the gathering-up of birth-and-death. Mahāmati! The true meaning is got from one who is 'widely learned.' Mahāmati! What is called 'widely learned' means being skilled in understanding the meaning, and not skilled in saying. To be skilled in the meaning is not to follow the treatises of any of the outsiders — one who neither follows them oneself nor causes another to follow — and this is what is called 'the greatly virtuous, widely learned.' Therefore one who would seek the meaning should draw near to the widely learned, to the one skilled in the meaning; and one at variance with this, who clings only to saying, one should keep far away."

〔Question〕Mahāmati, bearing the Buddha's awesome spirit, asks: "neither arising nor ceasing" is no different from the outsiders · there is nothing wonderful in it

At that time the bodhisattva Mahāmati again, bearing the awesome spiritual power of the Buddha, said to the Buddha: "World-Honored One! The 'neither arising nor ceasing' that the World-Honored One sets forth has nothing wonderful about it. Why? Because the 'cause' that all the outsiders set up is likewise neither-arising-nor-ceasing; and the World-Honored One too says that space, non-analytical cessation 〔cessation-not-through-selection〕, and the realm of nirvāṇa are neither-arising-nor-ceasing. World-Honored One! The outsiders say that a 'cause' gives rise to the various worlds; and the World-Honored One too says that, conditioned upon 'not-knowing, craving, action, and false imagining,' the various worlds arise — and that 'cause' and this 'condition' differ only in name, that is all; and to say that outer things arise from causes-and-conditions is likewise just so. In this light, World-Honored One, your discourse and the outsiders' are no different. As for such things as 'atoms, the Supremely-Fine, the Sovereign, the Lord-of-Beings' — these nine, the outsiders say, are neither-arising-nor-ceasing; and the World-Honored One too says that all natures are neither-arising-nor-ceasing, being and non-being alike not to be attained. The outsiders further say that the 'four great elements' are indestructible, that their self-nature is neither-arising-nor-ceasing, that the four great elements are constant — these four great elements even as they course through the various destinies do not cast off their self-nature; and what the World-Honored One says is likewise just so. Therefore I say 'there is nothing wonderful in it.' I only pray the World-Honored One expound for me the difference therein, and make plain by what wonder he surpasses all the outsiders. Were there no difference, then all the outsiders too would have to be buddhas, since they too are 'neither-arising-nor-ceasing.' Yet the World-Honored One says that 'in one world there arise many buddhas' is a thing without such a principle; and by what was just said, in one world there would have to be many buddhas, since 〔the Buddha and the outsiders〕 are no different."

〔Answer〕The Buddha's neither-arising-nor-ceasing is unlike the outsiders' · apart from the categories of being and non-being · the gandharva-city simile · markless seeing is superior · what I call nirvāṇa

The Buddha told Mahāmati: "The 'neither arising nor ceasing' that I speak of is unlike the outsiders' 'neither arising nor ceasing.' Why? Because those outsiders cling to a 'nature, a self-nature,' and get a mark of 'unarising, unchanging'; but I am not like that, falling into the two categories of being and non-being. Mahāmati! I am apart from the two categories of being and non-being, apart from arising and ceasing; I am neither 'possessed of nature' nor 'without nature.' Because they appear like the various illusions and dreams, we say 'not without nature'; and how then do we say 'without nature'? It is that form has no self-nature-mark to be taken up: now appearing and now not appearing, now grasped and now not grasped. Just for this reason, all natures are in truth 'without nature, and yet not without nature' — only awaken that they are the measure of one's own mind's manifestation, and false imagining does not arise; there is peace and ease and joy, and the affairs of the world come to rest for good. The foolish common people, by contrast, take false imagining and work up their doings — which is not the deed of the noble sages. That unreal false imagining is like a gandharva-city, like a conjured-up man.

"Mahāmati! Just as within a gandharva-city and among conjured-up men there are all sorts of sentient beings and merchants going in and coming out, and the fool by false imagining takes it that there truly is a going-in and coming-out, whereas in truth there is none who goes out and none who comes in — it is only his false imagining, no more. Just so, Mahāmati! the foolish common people falsely raise a view of 'neither arising nor ceasing,' and they likewise have no real 'conditioned or unconditioned' to speak of. As with the conjured-up man, in truth there is no arising and no ceasing at all, because it is 'nature-and-non-nature,' with nothing there; so too are all dharmas — from the first apart from arising and ceasing. The foolish common people, fallen into 'the not-as-it-really-is,' falsely raise the false imagining of arising-and-ceasing — which is not the province of the noble sages. That 'not-as-it-really-is' is in truth not so. Such false imagining as 'nature, self-nature' is likewise not other than 'suchness' 〔the True Thus〕; were it truly other than false imagining, then those who cling to every 'nature, self-nature' would forever fail to see quiescence; and failing to see quiescence, they can never become apart from false imagining. Therefore, Mahāmati! 'markless seeing' is superior; and that which 'is not markless, but sees upon a mark' is the very cause of taking birth, and so is not superior. Mahāmati! what is called 'markless' is that false imagining does not arise, does not rise and does not cease — and this I call nirvāṇa. Mahāmati! what is called 'nirvāṇa' is to see according to that true meaning 〔to see as it really is〕, apart from the former false imagining and apart from the mind and the mental factors, and to attain the Tathāgata's noble wisdom of self-realization — and this I call nirvāṇa."

The verse of restatement (extinguishing that doctrine of arising · the linked chain of conditions · the one-vehicle dharma)

At that time the World-Honored One, wishing to restate this meaning, spoke in verse:

　　Extinguishing that doctrine of "there-is-arising,"　establishing the meaning of "unarising,"
　　such is the dharma I speak,　which the fool cannot understand.
　　All dharmas are from the first unarising,　without nature, with nothing there,
　　like a gandharva-city, like an illusion, like a dream; those who say "there is nature" are without cause,
　　and being unarising, without self-nature,　by what cause then do they call it "empty"?
　　Because it is apart from that concurrence,　the nature that would be cognized does not appear,
　　and therefore we say "empty," say "unarising,"　I say it is without self-nature.
　　As for the concurrence of each and every cause-and-condition,　that nature, though it appears, is in truth not being,
　　and once analyzed out, no concurrence can be found — this is not as the outsiders see it.
　　Like a dream, like an illusion, like tangled hair in space,　like a wild horse 〔a mirage〕, like a gandharva-city —
　　the various affairs of the world　are all appearances of mark that come forth without cause.
　　Subdue that doctrine of "there-is-cause,"　set forth freely the meaning of "unarising";
　　for one who sets forth freely the unarising,　the stream of the true dharma is never cut off,
　　and this blazing doctrine of "without cause"　makes all the outsiders give rise to dread.
　　"For what reason," "from what cause,"　by what reason does it arise,
　　in what place does it concur,　that they set up that doctrine of "without cause"?
　　Contemplate that conditioned dharma:　it is neither "without cause" nor 〔really〕 "with cause,"
　　and for one who holds the doctrine of arising-and-ceasing,　his seeing is thereby extinguished.
　　Question: what is called "unarising"?　Is it to say that it is "without nature"?
　　Or is it that, regarding the conditions,　there is a dharma called "unarising"?
　　Answer: the name ought not be without meaning,　this is said only for the sake of discrimination;
　　it is neither "without-nature-hence-unarising,"　nor is it "regarding the conditions,"
　　nor is it that "there is nature" and so the name is set up — yet this name too is not without meaning.
　　Those outsiders, the śrāvakas, and the pratyekabuddhas,
　　on up to the bodhisattvas of the seventh abode — it is not their province: this is called the mark of "unarising."
　　Apart from all causes and conditions,　apart also from all things,
　　only that subtle mind abides;　the thinker and the thought are together left behind,
　　and his body too is thereby transformed — this I call "unarising."
　　There is no "nature or non-nature" of outer objects,　nor any grasping of the mind,
　　and every view is cut off — this I call "unarising."
　　Such "without-self-nature," "emptiness," and the rest　should be discriminated clearly:
　　it is not because of "empty-and-nothing" that we say "empty,"　but because of "unarising" that we say "empty."
　　When the sum of causes-and-conditions concurs,　there is arising and there is ceasing,
　　and apart from the sum of causes-and-conditions,　no further arising-and-ceasing can be found.
　　Cast off the sum of causes-and-conditions,　and there is no further "other-nature";
　　to say there is "one or different" — that is the false imagining of the outsiders.
　　The nature of "being and non-being" is from the first unarising, being neither being nor non-being;
　　apart from that turning transformation of "the sum of causes-and-conditions," none of these can be found.
　　There are only the various worldly reckonings,　turning and linking one to another, like hook and chain;
　　apart from that chain of causes-and-conditions,　the meaning of "arising" cannot be found.
　　"Arising" is without nature and in truth does not rise — this is to be apart from the faults of the outsiders;
　　it is only to speak of the hooked chain of conditions,　which the common fool cannot penetrate.
　　Were one to say that, apart from the hooked chain of conditions,　there is a further "nature that can give rise" —
　　that is the doctrine of "without cause," ruining the meaning of the hooked chain.
　　Just as a lamp can reveal the many images,　were the hooked chain also thus 〔able of itself to reveal〕,
　　then that would be apart from the hooked chain,　there being various further natures.
　　"Without nature," then there is no "arising,"　like the self-nature of space;
　　and were one apart from the hooked chain,　insight would have nothing to discriminate.
　　There is besides another kind of "unarising,"　a dharma the noble sages attain;
　　that "arising" is in truth "unarising" — this is the forbearance of the unarising of dharmas.
　　Were one to make the people of the world　all come to contemplate this hooked chain,
　　and all become apart from the hooked chain,　they would thereby attain samādhi.
　　Delusion, craving, and the various actions — these are the inner hooked chain;
　　the fire-drill 〔the tool for kindling fire by friction〕, the clay-lump, the potter's wheel, the seed, and the rest — these are called the outer hooked chain.
　　Were one to say that there is some "other-nature"　which yet arises from causes-and-conditions,
　　that is not the meaning of the hooked chain,　and such a saying does not stand.
　　Were one to say that "arising" is without self-nature,　then for whom does it make a hooked chain?
　　It is precisely because of the mutual arising, turn and turn about,　that one should understand the meaning of "cause-and-condition."
　　〔Were one to〕 say that "arising" has an "other-nature"　which yet arises from causes-and-conditions,
　　that is not the meaning of the hooked chain,　and such a saying does not stand.
　　The four great elements — solid, moist, warm, moving —
　　upon which the common fool raises false imagining 〔taking them for real〕; apart from the sum of causes-and-conditions, there is no further dharma,
　　and this is why we say it is "without nature."
　　Just as a physician treats the various sicknesses,　having no fixed roster of so-many prescriptions,
　　but only, because the sicknesses differ,　sets up treatments of various kinds —
　　so I, for the sake of those sentient beings,　break up their various defilements,
　　and knowing whether their faculties are keen or dull,　speak for them the gate of deliverance that suits.
　　It is not that the defilements or the faculties differ 〔and so there truly are many dharmas〕, that there are dharmas of various kinds;
　　I speak only this "one vehicle" of a dharma — and this alone is the great vehicle.

Technical terms of this division (impermanence, the four great elements and derived form, the cessation-attainment, the attainment of the cessation of feeling-and-perception, the Tathāgata-womb, the consciousness-store, the ground of ignorance-abiding, the seven consciousnesses, the noble resort of self-realization, the forbearance of the non-arising of dharmas, and the rest) are kept as they stand.

The outsiders' seven kinds of impermanence · the Buddha-dharma neither eternal nor impermanent

At that time the bodhisattva-mahāsattva Mahāmati again said to the Buddha: "World-Honored One! The outsiders, one and all, give rise to the false imagining of 'impermanence.' You too, World-Honored One, teach that all conditioned things are impermanent, that they are a dharma of arising-and-ceasing. How does this stand? Is it wrong, or right? And of how many kinds is impermanence?"

The Buddha told Mahāmati: "The outsiders have seven kinds of impermanence, and these are not my dharma. Which seven? Some among them say: made and then cast off — this is called impermanence. Some say: the shape-and-place perishes — this is called impermanence. Some say: form itself is impermanence. Some say: in the midst of form's transforming — this is called impermanence, its ceaseless self-scattering, as milk becomes curds and the rest transform, the midst of the process unseen, impermanence bit by bit ruining, all natures in transformation. Some say: 'being' is impermanence. Some say: 'being' and 'non-being' are impermanence. Some say: the non-arising of all dharmas is impermanence, and this impermanence pervades all dharmas.

"Mahāmati! Those who hold that 'being and non-being are impermanence' mean that the four great elements and the form derived from the four elements have their own marks perishing; yet the intrinsic nature of the four elements is in truth unattainable, is unarising. Their 'impermanence of the unarising' is in fact neither eternal nor impermanent — to say that the 'being and non-being' of all dharmas are unarising, that analyzed down to the finest atom of dust nothing is seen, and that this 'non-arising' is a sense of non-arising and not of arising — this is called the mark of the 'impermanence of non-arising.' If one does not discern this point, one falls into the doctrine of all the outsiders' 'impermanence of the arisen.'

"Mahāmati! Those who hold that 'being is impermanence' — this is their own mind's false imagining, and there is no 'being' that is eternal or impermanent. Why do I say so? Because the 'impermanence' they cling to has an intrinsic nature that does not perish. Mahāmati! This is that thing of theirs, 'all being and non-being are impermanent' — apart from that 'impermanence' itself, there is nothing else that could render all dharmas 'non-being.' It is as when with a staff, a tile, or a stone one breaks all sorts of objects, and what is seen before one differs object by object — this is that thing of theirs, 'the impermanence of being' — it is not drawing a distinction between 'the maker' and 'the made.' They say: this is 'impermanence,' this is 'a thing.' Were 'the maker' and 'the made' without distinction, then all natures would become eternal, would become natures without a cause.

"Mahāmati! All being and non-being have a cause — this is not what the foolish common person can know — and they do not arise from unlike things. If they arose from unlike things, then all natures would altogether become impermanent. This is the matter of unlike things: 'the maker' and 'the made' are at root without distinction, yet everywhere they are seen to have a distinction. If one says 'being is impermanence,' one falls into the nature-and-mark of 'the made and its cause'; and once fallen into this, all natures become non-ultimate. Once all natures fall into the mark of 'the made and its cause,' then 'impermanence' itself ought also to be impermanent; and 'impermanence' being itself impermanent, then all natures are not impermanent but ought, on the contrary, to be eternal. If 'impermanence' pervades all natures, it ought to fall into the three times: the past form dwells together with 'perishing,' the future form does not arise (since form does not arise), the present form dwells together with the 'mark of perishing.' What is called 'form' is the distinction of the four elements amassed. And the four elements and the form they compose have an intrinsic nature that does not perish, because it is apart from 'difference' and 'non-difference.'

"The outsiders, one and all, maintain that all the four elements do not perish, saying that the four elements and the derived form in all three existences have arising and ceasing within the bounds of the knowable. Yet apart from the form derived from the four elements, by what would the outsiders think 'impermanence' at all? For the four elements do not arise, and the mark of their intrinsic nature does not perish. As for that 'impermanence spoken of apart from the beginning-of-making' — what it speaks of is not the four elements, but something else, differing from the four elements, each with a mark of its own. Because it speaks of a 'particular mark,' and no distinction is to be found there, therein there is in fact no distinction. These, being no longer made anew, and not made by the two expedients, one should know to be 'impermanence.'

"As for that 'impermanence of the perishing of shape-and-place' of theirs, it means that the four elements and the derived form do not perish, do not perish to the very end. Mahāmati! by 'to the very end' is meant analyzing down to the finest atom of dust to observe its perishing. The shape-and-place of the four elements and the derived form has distinctions, and length and shortness are made out in it — yet length and shortness are in truth unattainable, and what is spoken of is not the four elements. It is that the four elements do not perish while the shape-and-place shows a perishing: this falls into [the doctrine of] the Sāṃkhya. As for their 'form itself is impermanence,' it means that form itself is impermanence — yet that is the impermanence of shape-and-place, not of the four elements. If one says the four elements are impermanent, then that is no longer the reckoning-talk of the world; and worldly talk, if it does not speak of intrinsic nature, falls into [the doctrine of] the outsiders who follow worldly reasoning. They see all natures as merely talk, and do not see the arising of a 'particular mark.' As for their 'impermanence of transforming,' it means that form shows a differing nature, and what is spoken of is not the four elements — as gold wrought into an ornament of adornment transforms and shows the mark of the ornament, yet it is not that the substance of the gold perishes, only that the place of the ornament perishes. The transforming of the remaining substances and so forth is all just like this.

"Such and such are the outsiders' several views of 'impermanence,' all of them false imagining. When fire burns the four elements, the particular marks of the four elements are not burned. Were one to say 'each particular mark mutually perishes,' then the form derived from the four elements ought to be annihilated. Mahāmati! What my dharma sets forth is neither eternal nor impermanent. Why do I say so? Because outer nature is not decisively fixed. I say only that the three existences are but subtle mind, and do not say that there is a real arising or a real ceasing of the manifold marks. The meeting of the four elements has distinctions, and the four elements and the derived form thereby give rise to the false imagining of the two things, 'grasper' and 'grasped.' If one understands these two false imaginings, and departs from the two views of 'outer nature being' and 'outer nature non-being,' one awakens to what was, from the first, one's own mind's manifestation. What is called 'false imagining' arises when thought-and-making act; it is not there where no making-and-acting is. If one departs from the false imagining of 'mind-nature being' and 'mind-nature non-being,' then all dharmas — mundane, supramundane, and the very highest — are neither eternal nor impermanent. If one does not awaken to that measure of one's own mind, one falls into the evil views of the two extremes and continues therein without break. The outsiders, one and all, do not awaken to their own false imagining; these common folk have no root to speak of — for what is called 'the mundane, supramundane, and highest dharmas arise from the false imagining of talk' is a principle no foolish common person can awaken to."

At that time the World-Honored One, wishing to restate this meaning, spoke in verse:

　　Far, far apart from that 'beginning-of-making,'　and from 'shape-and-place having difference,'
　　those who say 'nature and form are impermanent'　are the outsiders' foolish false imagining.
　　The manifold natures in truth have no perishing;　the four elements abide by their own intrinsic nature;
　　the outsiders' notion of 'impermanence'　sinks and drowns in the manifold views.
　　Those outsiders and the rest　have in truth neither 'arising' nor 'ceasing';
　　the nature of the four elements abides constant of itself —　by what would one say the notion of 'impermanence'?
　　All is but the measure of mind;　two kinds of mind revolve therein,
　　namely 'the received' and 'that which is received,'　and therein there is no self, no what-belongs-to-self.
　　Taking Brahmā for the root of a tree,　they say the branches spread everywhere —
　　such and such as I have said　is but the measure of their own mind.

The sequential continuity of the cessation-attainment · the difference between the sixth-through-eighth-ground bodhisattvas and the two vehicles

At that time the bodhisattva Mahāmati again said to the Buddha: "World-Honored One! Would that you would set forth for us the mark of the sequential continuity by which all bodhisattvas, śrāvakas, and pratyekabuddhas enter the cessation-attainment. If we could know well this mark of the sequential continuity of entering the cessation-attainment, then I and the other bodhisattvas would in the end never rashly cast off the gate of the bliss of the cessation-attainment, nor fall into the folly of all the śrāvakas, pratyekabuddhas, and outsiders."

The Buddha told Mahāmati: "Listen well, listen well! Bear it well in mind, and I shall set it forth for you."

Mahāmati said to the Buddha: "World-Honored One! Would that you would set it forth for us."

The Buddha told Mahāmati: "From the sixth ground on, the bodhisattva-mahāsattvas, together with the śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas, can enter the cessation-attainment. The seventh-ground bodhisattva-mahāsattva is in attainment thought after thought, in an attainment apart from the mark of the intrinsic nature of all natures — and this is no longer what the śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas can do. Those śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas, fallen into 'having activity,' enter the cessation-attainment by making the mark of 'grasper and grasped' cease; and so the seventh ground is not an attainment 'with thought' like that. What the seventh ground wins is the mark of 'no distinction among all dharmas,' not the discriminating winning of the manifold marks and natures; he is one who, awakening to the good and non-good nature-and-mark of all dharmas, is in attainment, and so the seventh ground is an attainment 'without a good thought.' Mahāmati! On reaching the eighth ground, for the bodhisattva as for the śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas, the marks of the false imagining of mind, mentation, and mental consciousness all cease. From the first ground up to the seventh, the bodhisattva-mahāsattva observes the three realms to be but the measure of mind, mentation, and mental consciousness, and apart from 'self and what belongs to self'; he cultivates by his own false imagining, yet still falls upon 'outer nature having manifold marks.' The foolish have two kinds of own-mind — 'grasper and grasped' — tending toward not-knowing, not awakening to the beginningless faults, perfumed by the false habit-energy.

"Mahāmati! On reaching the eighth ground, the bodhisattva-mahāsattva, together with the śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas, can all take up nirvāṇa. Yet the bodhisattva is held fast by the power of the awakening of samādhi, and so, though he has the bliss of the gate of samādhi, he does not enter parinirvāṇa. Were he not held by that bliss of samādhi, he would come to leave the Tathāgata-ground unfulfilled, casting off all his tasks for the sake of sentient beings, and the seed-nature of the buddhas would then be cut off — for which reason the buddhas, the World-Honored Ones, would reveal to him the Tathāgata's inconceivable and measureless qualities. As for the śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas, being drawn on by the bliss won of that gate of samādhi, they form the thought of 'nirvāṇa.' Mahāmati! In setting up the seventh ground with its divisions, my aim is to have one cultivate well the marks of mind, mentation, and mental consciousness, cultivate well 'self and what belongs to self,' take up 'the no-self of persons and the no-self of dharmas,' take up the particular and shared marks of arising-and-ceasing, be skilled in the four unobstructed [knowledges], be skilled in the gate of samādhi of decisive power, so that ground succeeds ground in sequence, leading into the dharma of the 'limbs of the path.' It is so as not to let the bodhisattva-mahāsattva fail to awaken to the particular and shared marks, be unskilled in the seventh ground, and fall into the outsiders' wrong byway — for this reason the sequence of the grounds is set up. Mahāmati! In truth there is no 'arising' or 'ceasing' there, save the measure of one's own mind. What is called 'the sequential continuity of the grounds,' and the 'manifold activities of the three realms,' is what the foolish do not awaken to. What is it the foolish do not awaken to? It is the 'sequential continuity of the grounds' that I and all the buddhas teach, and the 'manifold activities of the three realms' that we teach."

At that time Mahāmati asked once more — and the Buddha went on to say:

"Furthermore, Mahāmati! the śrāvakas, pratyekabuddhas, and the eighth-ground bodhisattva, made drunk by that 'gate of the bliss of the samādhi of cessation' and drunk within it, are unskilled in the measure of their own mind, obstructed by the habit-energy of the particular and shared marks. They fall upon the grasping-view of 'the no-self of persons and the no-self of dharmas,' falsely imagining the notion of 'nirvāṇa' — and that is not the awakening of the wisdom of quiescent cessation. Mahāmati! As for the bodhisattva, though he sees the bliss of the 'gate of the samādhi of cessation,' yet by the pity of his fundamental vow and the accomplishment of great compassion, knowing and discerning those 'ten inexhaustible vows,' he does not falsely imagine the notion of 'nirvāṇa.' Because his false imagining of 'having already entered nirvāṇa' does not arise, he is apart from the false imagining of 'grasper and grasped'; awakening to the measure of his own mind, the false imagining of all dharmas does not arise for him; he does not fall upon mind, mentation, and mental consciousness, nor fall upon the clinging false imagining of 'outer nature and the mark of intrinsic nature.' This is not to say that the cause of the Buddha-dharma does not arise — rather, following upon the arising of wisdom, he wins the Tathāgata's ground of self-realization. It is as when a person, in a dream, crosses the water by expedient, and wakes before he has crossed; and having woken, he reflects: was that right, or wrong? In truth, neither right nor wrong. Those other beginningless notions, caused by 'seeing, hearing, being aware, and knowing,' the manifold notions, the manifold habit-energies, the manifold shapes-and-places, fallen into the notion of 'being and non-being,' are all what mind, mentation, and mental consciousness manifest in a dream. Mahāmati! In just this way, the bodhisattva-mahāsattva, on the eighth ground, sees the arising of false imagining. Advancing from the first ground on to the seventh, he sees all dharmas to be like an illusion and the rest, and by expedient crosses beyond the mind's false imagining of 'grasper and grasped'; and having passed through, he sets up the expedients of the Buddha-dharma, that those who have not yet won may win. Mahāmati! this is the bodhisattva's 'expedient of nirvāṇa' — unruined, unlost, apart from mind, mentation, and mental consciousness, winning the 'forbearance of the non-arising of dharmas.' Mahāmati! within the first meaning there is no sequential continuity; rather, one speaks of that dharma of 'nothing whatever,' of the quiescent cessation of false imagining."

At that time the World-Honored One, wishing to restate this meaning, spoke in verse:

　　The measure of mind is 'nothing whatever'; this 'abiding,' together with the buddha-ground —
　　past, future, and present, the buddhas of the three times all speak thus.
　　The 'ground of the measure of mind' is the seventh, 'nothing whatever' is the eighth;
　　these two grounds are named 'abiding,' and the buddha-ground is named 'the most excellent.'
　　The wisdom of self-realization, together with purity — this is my ground,
　　the most excellent place of sovereignty, pure, subtle, and adorned.
　　Shining as a blazing fire, its light utterly pervading all,
　　the flame yet not harming the eyes of any, pervading like a wheel, delivering the three existences.
　　Manifest within these three existences, or delivered at a former time —
　　there he expounds the manifold vehicles, all of them the Tathāgata's ground.
　　The tenth ground is then reckoned the first, the first is then reckoned the eighth;
　　the ninth is then reckoned the seventh, the seventh again reckoned the eighth;
　　the second is reckoned the third, the fourth reckoned the fifth,
　　the third reckoned the sixth — where, being 'nothing whatever' from the first, is there any sequence at all?

The Tathāgata neither eternal nor impermanent · the wisdom won without interval is constant

At that time the bodhisattva Mahāmati again said to the Buddha: "World-Honored One! Is the Tathāgata, the Worthy One, the Perfectly Awakened One, eternal, or impermanent?"

The Buddha told Mahāmati: "The Tathāgata, the Worthy One, the Perfectly Awakened One, is neither eternal nor impermanent. For to say 'eternal' and to say 'impermanent' both have a fault. If one says 'eternal,' there is the fault of 'a maker as lord'; those who say 'eternal' are precisely the outsiders who set up a 'maker' — one who, doing nothing, is yet lord of all. And so to say the Tathāgata is 'eternal' is not that outsider-sense of 'eternal,' for that 'not-making-and-being-eternal' has a fault. If one says the Tathāgata is 'impermanent,' there is the fault of 'impermanent-because-made': the mark shown by the aggregates has an intrinsic nature that is no-nature, and were the aggregates to perish the Tathāgata ought then to be annihilated — yet the Tathāgata is not cut off. Mahāmati! All that is made is impermanent, like a pot, a garment, and the rest — all have the fault of 'impermanence'; and then all-knowledge and the manifold implements of expedient would likewise be without meaning, for they are made. And all that is made would likewise become the Tathāgata, for they are without a distinguishing cause and are of a like substance. Therefore, Mahāmati! the Tathāgata is neither eternal nor impermanent.

"Furthermore, Mahāmati! the Tathāgata is not 'eternal' as empty space is 'eternal.' Were he 'eternal' as empty space is, then 'the noble wisdom of self-realization and the manifold implements of expedient' would become without meaning, a fault. Mahāmati! just as empty space is neither eternal nor impermanent — apart from 'eternal-and-impermanent,' apart from 'one-and-different,' apart from 'together-and-not-together,' apart from the fault of 'eternal-impermanent,' and so unsayable — for this reason the Tathāgata is not that kind of 'eternal.'

"Furthermore, Mahāmati! were one to say the Tathāgata is 'unarising-and-eternal,' that would be like a hare's horn, a horse's horn, and the rest — for being 'unarising-and-eternal,' all expedients would become without meaning; because 'unarising-and-eternal' has such a fault, the Tathāgata is not that kind of 'eternal.'

"Furthermore, Mahāmati! there is yet another matter whereby one may know the Tathāgata is constant. Why do I say so? It is this: the wisdom the Tathāgata 'wins without interval' is constant, and therefore the Tathāgata is constant. Mahāmati! whether the Tathāgata appears in the world or does not appear in the world, this dharma is decisively fixed in abiding to the very end. The śrāvakas, pratyekabuddhas, and the buddhas, the Tathāgatas, abide without interval, not abiding upon empty space, and not what the foolish can awaken to. Mahāmati! the wisdom the Tathāgata wins is perfumed by insight. Mahāmati! the Tathāgata is not perfumed forth by mind, mentation, mental consciousness, and those aggregates, elements, and sense-fields and their places. Mahāmati! all three existences are born of unreal false imagining; and the Tathāgata is not born of 'unreal false thought.' Mahāmati! it is precisely because there is a 'twofold dharma' that there is 'eternal-and-impermanent'; this is not the realm of 'not-two.' What is called 'not-two' is quiescent, for all dharmas are from the first without the arising-mark of 'two.' Therefore the Tathāgata, the Worthy One, the Perfectly Awakened One, is neither eternal nor impermanent. Mahāmati! so long as there is still the arising of talk-and-discrimination, there is the fault of 'eternal-and-impermanent'; if the awakening of discrimination ceases, one is apart from the foolish view of 'eternal-and-impermanent.' Those quiescent and possessed of insight are forever apart from 'eternal-and-impermanent,' and are not perfumed by 'eternal-and-impermanent.'"

At that time the World-Honored One, wishing to restate this meaning, spoke in verse:

　　One who makes the manifold implements of expedient to be without meaning gives rise to the fault of 'eternal-and-impermanent';
　　one who can awaken without discrimination is forever apart from 'eternal-and-impermanent.'
　　Following one's own set-up tenet, manifold mixed meanings arise;
　　could one observe the measure of one's own mind with evenness, that 'talk' is in truth unattainable.

The Tathāgata-womb consciousness-store · the cause of good and non-good · like a body of ocean-waves ever-arising without break

At that time the bodhisattva Mahāmati again said to the Buddha: "World-Honored One! Would that the World-Honored One would set forth for me once more the arising-and-ceasing of the 'aggregates, elements, and sense-fields.' Since there is no 'self' there, who is it, then, that arises, and who that ceases? The foolish, relying on arising-and-ceasing, do not awaken to the end of 'suffering,' nor recognize 'nirvāṇa.'"

The Buddha said: "Well said! Listen well, and I shall set it forth for you."

Mahāmati said to the Buddha: "Yes, receiving your instruction."

The Buddha told Mahāmati: "The Tathāgata's womb is the cause of good and non-good, able to pervadingly bring forth the births of all destinies. It is just as an actor (a player) manifests all sorts of roles, apart from 'self and what belongs to self.' Because sentient beings do not awaken to this, they arise within the expedient of the 'joining of three conditions.' The outsiders, not awakening to it, cling to there being a 'maker.' Perfumed by the beginningless false and evil habit-energy, it is named the 'consciousness-store.' It gives rise to the 'ground of ignorance-abiding,' and together with the seven consciousnesses, like the body of ocean and waves, ever arises and is never for once cut off. It is apart from the fault of 'impermanence,' apart from the doctrine of a 'self,' its intrinsic nature undefiled, ultimately pure. As for the remaining consciousnesses, they have arising and ceasing: mentation, mental consciousness, and the rest — thought after thought these seven evolving consciousnesses [arise]. Because of unreal false imagining, they grasp at the manifold objects, the manifold shapes-and-places, clinging to name and mark. Because they do not awaken to the fact that the form-marks are what one's own mind manifests, do not awaken to suffering and pleasure, and cannot reach liberation, they are bound by name and mark and the manifold [things], craving giving rise to birth-and-birth, birth-and-birth giving rise again to craving. If that 'cause' and 'the reaching-for-a-condition' — that is, the roots of the several feelings — once cease, then in sequence [the consciousnesses] no longer arise; and then, save for one's own mind's false imagining, one no longer knows suffering or pleasure. In this way one enters the 'attainment of the cessation of feeling-and-perception' — the fourth dhyāna, the liberation of well-understanding the true truths. And the one who cultivates practice then forms the thought of 'liberation,' though in truth he has neither departed from, nor turned about, that 'consciousness-store' named 'the Tathāgata-womb,' and those seven consciousnesses go on evolving and are not ceased. Why do I say so? Because those consciousnesses arise by way of 'cause and the reaching-for-a-condition' — and this is not the realm the śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas cultivate. They do not awaken to 'no-self,' but take up [things] by particular and shared marks, and so give rise to the aggregates, elements, and sense-fields. To see 'the Tathāgata-womb, the intrinsic nature of the five dharmas, the no-self of persons, and the no-self of dharmas' — [only then] do these cease, and ground succeeds ground, evolving on in sequence. The remaining views of the outsiders can then no longer sway him — and this is called abiding on the bodhisattva's 'Immovable Ground.' He wins the bliss of the ten gates of the path of samādhi, held fast by the power of the awakening of samādhi; observing the buddha-dharma inconceivable and his own vow, he does not receive that bliss of the gate of samādhi, nor 'the ultimate reality'; he turns toward the noble resort of self-realization, not sharing in the path-practices cultivated by all the śrāvakas, pratyekabuddhas, and the outsiders; he wins the ten kinds of the path of the noble ones' seed-nature, and 'body, wisdom, and the mind-made [body],' apart from the practice of samādhi. Therefore, Mahāmati! the bodhisattva-mahāsattva who would seek the excellent advance should cleanse away the name of 'the Tathāgata-womb' and of 'the store consciousness.'

"Mahāmati! were there no 'Tathāgata-womb' named 'the consciousness-store,' then there would be no arising-and-ceasing. Mahāmati! yet the ordinary and the noble alike have arising-and-ceasing; the one who cultivates practice abides in bliss within the present dharma by the noble resort of self-realization, and does not cast off the expedient. Mahāmati! this 'Tathāgata-womb, the consciousness-store' is what all the śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas see by the thought of the mind — though its intrinsic nature is pure, yet because it is covered over by the guest-dust, to their sight it is still impure, and this is not what the Tathāgatas see. Mahāmati! as for the Tathāgata, the realm present before him is clear as looking at an āmalaka fruit in the palm of the hand. Mahāmati! upon this meaning I have, by the power of spiritual penetration, established [the teaching], that Lady Śrīmālā and the bodhisattvas of sharp wits and full-ripened [insight] and the rest might proclaim and expound the name of 'the Tathāgata-womb' and of 'the consciousness-store' — that it arises together with the seven consciousnesses. The śrāvakas cling, seeing only 'the no-self of persons and the no-self of dharmas'; and so Lady Śrīmālā, borne up by the Buddha's august spirit, speaks of the Tathāgata's realm, which is not the realm of the śrāvakas, pratyekabuddhas, and outsiders. This 'Tathāgata-womb, the consciousness-store' is the realm of wisdom of the Buddhas alone, and of the remaining sharp-witted, meaning-relying bodhisattvas. Therefore you, and the other bodhisattva-mahāsattvas, ought, with respect to this 'Tathāgata-womb, the consciousness-store,' to train diligently and study — do not, having merely heard and been aware, form the thought that this is 'enough.'"

At that time the World-Honored One, wishing to restate this meaning, spoke in verse:

　　That most profound Tathāgata-womb is yet together with the seven consciousnesses;
　　from it the two kinds of grasping arise, and the one possessed of wisdom departs from them.
　　Like an image in a mirror appearing to the mind, perfumed by beginningless habit-energy —
　　one who can observe it as it truly is sees that in the manifold things there is in truth no thing.
　　As a fool sees a man point with his finger at the moon, and looks only at the finger and not at the moon,
　　so one who clings to names does not see my truth.
　　Mind is like a lead actor (the player who sings the lead), mentation is like the one who sings the accompaniment,
　　the five consciousnesses are its companions, and false imagining looks on at the side at this troupe of players.

Technical terms of this division (the five dharmas, the natures, the consciousnesses, the twofold no-self, name, appearance, discrimination, right knowledge, suchness, the three natures, the imagined nature, the dependent nature, the truly-perfected nature, the eight consciousnesses, the Ganges sands, the six perfections, the momentary) are kept as they stand.

〔Question〕Mahāmati asks: the ultimate mark of the discrimination of the five dharmas · the natures · consciousness · the twofold no-self

At that time the bodhisattva Mahāmati said to the Buddha: "World-Honored One! Would that you expound for me the ultimate mark of the discrimination of the five dharmas, the natures, consciousness, and the twofold no-self. I, and the rest of the bodhisattva-mahāsattvas, delight in discriminating these dharmas in due sequence, stage upon stage upon the grounds, and so entering all the buddha-dharmas. To enter all the buddha-dharmas is, at its furthest reach, to arrive at the ground of the Tathāgata's self-realization."

The Buddha told Mahāmati: "Listen well, listen well! Ponder and hold it well."

Mahāmati said to the Buddha: "So be it. I receive the instruction."

The Buddha told Mahāmati: "The mark toward which the discrimination of the five dharmas, the natures, consciousness, and the twofold no-self tends is this: name, appearance, discrimination, right knowledge, and suchness. If a practitioner cultivates his way into the Tathāgata's noble resort of self-realization, and leaves behind the views of annihilation, eternalism, being, and non-being, then the present dharma's blissful right-reception comes to abide before him. Mahāmati! Not to awaken to the fact that those five dharmas, the natures, consciousness, and the twofold no-self are but one's own mind's manifestation, and to take them instead for a nature outside the mind — this is the false imagining of the common person; it is not the realm of the sages."

Mahāmati said to the Buddha: "World-Honored One! Why is it that the foolish give rise to false imagining while the sages do not?"

The Buddha told Mahāmati: "The foolish cling to worldly number, name, and appearance, and drift and scatter after the mind. Having drifted and scattered, all sorts of forms and figures appear before them, and they fall into the view of 'I' and 'mine'; with a single longing they cling to that lovely form. Having clung, they are covered and screened by not-knowing, and give rise to defiled attachment. Having grown attached, the deeds born of greed and hatred pile up layer upon layer. Having piled up, they are bound fast by their own false imagining — like a silkworm spinning silk to make a cocoon and wrapping itself round within it — and they fall into the great ocean of birth-and-death, into the wilderness of the destinies, turning like the wheel that draws water from a well, round and never resting. Because of their folly they cannot understand that all this is like an illusion, like a mirage-deer of the shimmering air, like the moon in water, its nature from the first apart from 'I' and 'mine'; and instead they raise up every sort of unreal false imagining, unable to leave behind the mark-that-marks and the marked, and arising, abiding, and ceasing — which are in truth born of their own mind's false imagining and are not born from a Sovereign Lord, from Time, from atoms, or from a Supremely-Fine source. And so the foolish common person drifts along after name and appearance. Mahāmati! What is called 'appearance' is what the eye-consciousness beholds — this is called form; what the ear-, nose-, tongue-, body-, and mind-consciousnesses behold is called sound, scent, taste, touch, and dharma — this is called appearance. Mahāmati! What is called 'discrimination' is the setting up of every sort of name and the displaying of every sort of appearance — just as 'elephant, horse, chariot, foot-soldier, man, woman' and the like, name and appearance no different from these — this is called discrimination. Mahāmati! What is called 'right knowledge' is to see that name and appearance are alike unfindable, like a passing guest (who comes but a moment and is gone, not to be grasped and held); the consciousnesses do not arise, there is neither annihilation nor eternalism, and one does not fall into the ground of any of the outsiders, the śrāvakas, or the pratyekabuddhas.

"Furthermore, Mahāmati! the bodhisattva-mahāsattva, by this right knowledge, does not set up name and appearance, and yet it is not that he does not set them up; leaving behind the two views of 'setting-up' and 'disparagement,' he understands that name and appearance are from the first unborn — this is called suchness. Mahāmati! the bodhisattva-mahāsattva who abides in this suchness, because he has won the realm where there is nothing whatever [to be found], wins the bodhisattva's Ground of Joy. Having won the bodhisattva's Ground of Joy, he is forever apart from all the evil destinies of the outsiders, and abides rightly in the resort that is supramundane. His dharma-marks now ripened, he can discriminate all dharmas as illusion-like and the rest; awakening for himself to the mark toward which the dharmas tend, apart from all sorts of false views and prodigious appearances, thus stage upon stage he goes on to the Cloud-of-Dharma Ground. And in between, the power of samādhi, sovereignty, and spiritual penetration open forth one by one. Having won the ground of the Tathāgata, with every sort of transformation, a perfect shining-forth, he displays himself and ripens sentient beings — like the reflection of the moon in water (appearing everywhere, yet abiding nowhere). Skillfully and to the very end he perfects the ten inexhaustible vows, and for sentient beings of every sort of differing understanding he discriminates and expounds the dharma — and this dharma-body is apart from what mind contrives. This is called the realm the bodhisattva wins by entering into suchness."

〔Question〕How do the three natures enter into the five dharmas

At that time the bodhisattva Mahāmati said to the Buddha: "World-Honored One! Why does the World-Honored One say that the three natures enter into the five dharmas? Or does each of them have a tenet of its own particular mark?"

The Buddha told Mahāmati: "The three natures, together with the eight consciousnesses and the twofold no-self, all enter into the five dharmas. Mahāmati! Those name and appearance are the imagined nature. Mahāmati! If, depending upon that false imagining, mind and the mental factors arise, and name arises together with them at one time — like the sun and its light together — the many sorts of appearances each held apart in discrimination: this is called the dependent nature. Mahāmati! As for right knowledge and suchness, they are indestructible, and so they are called the truly-perfected nature.

The eight consciousnesses are all one's own mind's manifestation · the twofold no-self arises

"Furthermore, Mahāmati! one's own mind's manifested false imagining has eight sorts of discrimination — namely the store-consciousness, mentation, the mental consciousness, and the marks of the fivefold body of sense-consciousness; these are all unreal marks, because they are false imagining. When the two graspings of 'I' and 'mine' cease, the twofold no-self arises. Therefore, Mahāmati! these five dharmas — the śrāvakas, the pratyekabuddhas, the bodhisattvas, and the noble self-realizing wisdom of the Tathāgatas, together with the sequential order of all the grounds — all the buddha-dharmas enter within them.

Restating the five dharmas · the verse restating the five dharmas and the three natures

"Furthermore, Mahāmati! the five dharmas are: appearance, name, discrimination, suchness, and right knowledge. Mahāmati! What is called 'appearance' is this: if a location, a figure, a form-image, and the like appear before one, this is called appearance. If, since that appearance has such-and-such a shape, one fixes a name upon it — 'pot' and the like — [saying] it is just this and not another, this is called name. The setting up of every sort of name and the displaying of every sort of appearance, speaking of 'pot' and the like, the mind and the mental factors — this is called discrimination. That name, that appearance, are in the end unfindable; from first to last there is no awakening to them (no substance to be found); upon the dharmas there is nothing to be won through and through, and leaving behind unreal false imagining — this is called suchness. The true, decisive, ultimate nature is likewise unfindable — that is the mark of 'suchness.' I and the buddhas, according with and entering this entry-place, expound it truly for the whole of sentient beings; we set up and display it, that they may accord with it and awaken and enter into right awakening. Neither annihilation nor eternalism, false imagining not arising, according with the noble resort of self-realization — this is the mark that none of the outsiders, śrāvakas, or pratyekabuddhas can win: this is called right knowledge. Mahāmati! this is called the five dharmas, the three natures, the eight consciousnesses, and the twofold no-self, into which all the buddha-dharmas enter. Therefore, Mahāmati! you should yourself, by skillful means, train in this, and teach it to others, and not follow after another['s wrong teaching]."

At that time the World-Honored One, wishing to restate this meaning, spoke in verse:

　　The five dharmas, the three natures,　and those eight consciousnesses,
　　together with the twofold no-self,　are all gathered into the Mahāyāna.
　　Name, appearance, and false thought,　these are the two marks of a nature;
　　right knowledge together with suchness,　this then is the mark of the "perfected."

〔Question〕The buddhas as the Ganges sands · is it to be received as spoken, or is there some further meaning

At that time the bodhisattva Mahāmati again said to the Buddha: "World-Honored One! According to the sentence the World-Honored One has spoken, the buddhas of the past are as many as the sands of the Ganges, and so likewise are those of the future and the present. World-Honored One! How is this to be understood? Is it to be received just as it is said, or is there some further meaning? Would that the Tathāgata, in pity for us, expound it for us."

The Buddha told Mahāmati: "Do not receive it just as it is said. The number of the buddhas of the three times is not so countable as the sands of the Ganges. Why so? Because it passes beyond what the world can look up to, and is not what any simile can liken. It is only because the foolish cling to the 'eternal,' because the outsiders raise up false imagining, feed their evil views, and are without end in birth-and-death, that — to make them weary of birth-and-death, turn and set out, be diligent and press onward — they are told thus: 'The buddhas are easy to meet, not like the udumbara-flower [hard once to be seen].' — the better to put to rest that idleness which 'seeks yet another expedient.' And again, at times, seeing those sentient beings who are to be converted [of another disposition], he tells them thus: 'A buddha is hard to meet with, like the udumbara-flower.' — the udumbara-flower is one that has never been seen before, is not seen now, and will not be seen (utterly unseen in the world); whereas the Tathāgata is one whom the world may indeed all see. It is not for the sake of setting up the realm 'reached by his own attainment' that he says, 'the Tathāgata's appearing in the world is like the udumbara-flower.' Mahāmati! that realm of 'self-established, self-attained' passes beyond what the world can look up to, and is not what the foolish can believe; the realm of the noble self-realizing wisdom has nothing that can be brought to liken it; the true Tathāgata passes beyond the marks seen by mind, mentation, and the mental consciousness, and is not to be brought to liken. Mahāmati! yet when I liken the Buddha to the sands of the Ganges, there is no fault in it. Mahāmati! it is like the sands of the Ganges: all the fishes, turtles, crocodiles, lions, elephants, horses, men, and beasts come and trample them, yet the sands do not form the thought, 'These trouble and disturb me,' and so give rise to false imagining — their nature is pure, without any sort of defilement. The Tathāgata, the Worthy One, the Perfectly Awakened One — this Ganges of the noble self-realizing wisdom — his great power, spiritual penetration, and sovereignty and the rest are like those sands; and though all the outsiders, all men, and all beasts and the rest trouble and disturb him in every way, the Tathāgata does not form the thought and give rise to false imagining. The Tathāgata is still, without thought or notion; the Tathāgata's original vow is to give ease to sentient beings with the bliss of samādhi, and therefore he is untroubled — just like those sands of the Ganges, no different at all. And again, because he has cut off greed and hatred. It is like the sands of the Ganges, which are the intrinsic nature of the earth-element: when at the aeon's end the fire burns and consumes the whole earth, that earth-element does not forsake its own body, because it is co-arisen with the fire-element. The rest of the foolish form the thought, 'the earth is burnt,' yet the earth is not burnt — what burns is only the fire-cause. Just so, Mahāmati! the Tathāgata's dharma-body is like the sands of the Ganges, indestructible. Mahāmati! it is like the sands of the Ganges, which have no limit; the Tathāgata's radiance too is thus without limit, and for the sake of ripening sentient beings shines upon all the great assemblies of all the buddhas. Mahāmati! it is like the sands of the Ganges — seek some other kind of sand apart from them, and it is never to be found (sand is one same sand, there is no sand other than it); just so, Mahāmati! the Tathāgata, the Worthy One, the Perfectly Awakened One, has no arising-and-ceasing of birth-and-death, because there is a cause-and-condition that can be cut off (the cause exhausted, there is no more arising-and-ceasing). Mahāmati! it is like the sands of the Ganges river — whether they increase or decrease is not to be known; just so, Mahāmati! the Tathāgata's wisdom ripens sentient beings, neither increasing nor decreasing — because it is not a body-dharma. A body-dharma has its wearing-away; the Tathāgata's dharma-body is not a body-dharma. It is like pressing the sands of the Ganges — press as one will, no oil is to be got from them; likewise, though sentient beings in every sort of extreme suffering press hard upon the Tathāgata, then until sentient beings have won nirvāṇa the Tathāgata does not forsake that vow-bliss of his own samādhi that is the dharma-realm — because of his great compassion. Mahāmati! it is like the sands of the Ganges, which flow along with the water and are not without water; just so, Mahāmati! all the dharmas the Tathāgata expounds flow along with nirvāṇa — and this is why it is said, 'like the sands of the Ganges.' The Tathāgata does not flow along in the wake of every sort of 'going,' because 'going' has the sense of wearing-away. Mahāmati! the very first bound of birth-and-death is unknowable; and just because it is unknowable, how can one speak of 'going'? Mahāmati! 'going' has the sense of annihilation, and this the foolish do not know."

Mahāmati said to the Buddha: "World-Honored One! If the very first bound of sentient beings' birth-and-death is unknowable, then how can liberation be known?"

The Buddha told Mahāmati: "When the cause that is the habit-energy of the false imagining of beginningless falsity and evil is made to cease, one knows that the 'outer meaning' is one's own mind's manifestation (it is one's own mind, and not truly outside); and thereupon the body of false imagining turns about and is liberated — and this liberation is not a ceasing (it is not the cutting-off of all things). Therefore it is called 'boundless,' and yet it is not utterly nothing whatever. It is to counter that false imagining that it is given the various other names, 'boundless' and the like. Observing inner and outer, apart from false imagining, there is no 'knowing' and 'known' set up apart, different from sentient beings (knowing and its realm do not stand opposed and set apart); all dharmas are altogether still. It is only because one does not recognize that this is one's own mind's manifested false imagining that false imagining arises; recognize it, and false imagining ceases."

At that time the World-Honored One, wishing to restate this meaning, spoke in verse:

　　Observe the guiding teachers (the buddhas),　like those sands of the Ganges,
　　unperishing, and not going,　nor yet utterly cut off —
　　this then is equality;　thus is one to observe the Tathāgatas.
　　Like those sands of the Ganges,　altogether apart from every fault,
　　flowing along with the water, its nature yet abiding constant　— this is the Buddha's right awakening.

At that time the bodhisattva Mahāmati again said to the Buddha: "Would that you expound for me the mark by which all dharmas perish momentarily. World-Honored One! Why is it said that all dharmas are momentary?"

The Buddha told Mahāmati: "Listen well, listen well! Ponder and hold it well, and I shall expound it for you."

The Buddha told Mahāmati: "What are called 'all dharmas' are: the good, the not-good, the indeterminate, the conditioned, the unconditioned, the mundane, the supramundane, the blameworthy, the blameless, the outflowing, the outflow-free, the received, and the not-received. Mahāmati! stated briefly, mind, mentation, the mental consciousness, and the habit-energy are the cause of the five aggregates of grasping; it is this habit-energy of mind, mentation, and the mental consciousness that feeds the good and not-good false imagining of the foolish. Mahāmati! the bliss of cultivating samādhi, the right-reception of samādhi, and the blissful abiding in the present dharma — this is called the good, outflow-free [state] of the sages. Mahāmati! what are called good and not-good are the eight consciousnesses. Which eight? They are the Tathāgata-womb, which is also called the store-consciousness, together with mind, mentation, the mental consciousness, and the fivefold body of sense-consciousness — not as the outsiders say. Mahāmati! what is called the fivefold body of sense-consciousness is co-present with mind, mentation, and the mental consciousness; its good and not-good marks change and perish turn by turn, in an unbroken flowing continuity. The [store-consciousness's] indestructible body arises, and both arises and ceases: not awakening to the fact that it is one's own mind's manifestation, one [consciousness] ceases and the next remaining consciousness at once arises again; grasped-and-received according to the differences of figure and appearance, the mental consciousness together with the five consciousnesses arises in mutual accord, not abiding for so much as a single moment — this is called the momentary. Mahāmati! what is called 'momentary' means that the habit-energy of the consciousnesses co-arisen — the store-consciousness, the Tathāgata-womb, and mentation — is momentary; whereas that outflow-free habit-energy is not momentary, and is not what the foolish can awaken to. Because they cling to a doctrine of the 'momentary,' they cannot awaken to the fact that all dharmas are both momentary and not-momentary, and so, with the annihilation-view, they ruin the unconditioned dharma. Mahāmati! the seven consciousnesses do not undergo the round [of birth-and-death], do not receive suffering and pleasure, and are not a cause of nirvāṇa. Mahāmati! as for the Tathāgata-womb, it is co-present with suffering and pleasure and with the cause, and either arises or ceases; it is made drunk by the four abodes and the abode of ignorance. The foolish do not awaken to it, their minds perfumed by the false imagining of the 'momentary-view.'

"Furthermore, Mahāmati! it is like gold, the diamond, and the buddha-relics: having won a rare and special nature, they are in the end indestructible. Mahāmati! if within the unbroken [continuum] there were still a momentary [that could] perish, then a sage ought not to remain a sage — yet the sage has never been not a sage. It is like gold and the diamond, which though aeons pass do not diminish in weight when weighed. Why is it that the foolish, ill understanding this hidden and veiled teaching of mine, form the thought of the 'momentary' concerning all inner and outer dharmas?"

〔Question〕The three discriminations of the six perfections

The bodhisattva Mahāmati again said to the Buddha: "World-Honored One! according to what the World-Honored One has spoken, when the six perfections are fulfilled and complete, one becomes perfectly awakened. Which six are they?"

The Buddha told Mahāmati: "The perfections have three discriminations, namely: the mundane, the supramundane, and the supreme-supramundane. Mahāmati! what is called the mundane perfection is this: grasping and clinging with 'I' and 'mine,' seizing upon the two extremes, for the sake of every sort of place of rebirth, and out of craving-relish for form, sound, scent, taste, and touch, one fulfills the perfection of giving; and the perfections of morality, patience, vigor, meditation, and wisdom are likewise. What is thereby accomplished are the spiritual penetrations of the common person, and rebirth in the Brahmā-heaven. Mahāmati! what is called the supramundane perfection is this: because the śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas have fallen into the 'grasping-and-receiving of nirvāṇa,' they practice the six perfections out of craving-relish for the bliss of their own nirvāṇa. What is called the supreme-supramundane perfection is this: having awakened to the fact that the measure of the false imagining manifested by one's own mind is from the first the grasped-and-received, and that this is one's own mind splitting in two (grasper and grasped), one gives rise to no false imagining, does not take the graspings of the destinies to be real (unreal to it), and does not cling to one's own mind's form-marks. For the sake of giving ease to all sentient beings, one gives rise to the perfection of giving, raising up an excellent skillful means; and upon that very object-in-view, false imagining not arising — this is the perfection of morality. Upon that very object, false imagining not arising, one is able to bear it in patience, understanding grasper and grasped (both to be one's own mind) — this is the perfection of patience. In the first watch, the middle watch, and the last watch, diligent in skillful means, according with the skillful means of cultivating practice, false imagining not arising — this is the perfection of vigor. False imagining altogether ceased, and yet not falling into the śrāvakas' 'grasping-and-receiving of nirvāṇa' — this is the perfection of meditation. Understanding that one's own mind's false imagining is from the first without nature, contemplating with wisdom, not falling into the two extremes, so that the former body is turned into the excellent and indestructible, and one wins the noble resort of self-realization — this is the perfection of wisdom."

At that time the World-Honored One, wishing to restate this meaning, spoke in verse:

　　Emptiness, impermanence, and the momentary,　are what the foolish falsely contrive;
　　like a river, like a lamp, like a seed (a flowing continuum),　yet they form the thought of the "momentary."
　　The momentary put to rest, the turmoil stilled,　quiescent and apart from contriving,
　　all dharmas from the first unborn　— this is what I call the sense of the "momentary."
　　A thing once arisen straightway has its ceasing;　this is not spoken to the foolish.
　　That unbroken continuous nature　is what false imagining perfumes.
　　With ignorance for its cause,　the mind arises from thence,
　　and until the form has yet to arise,　in that between, what is there to divide?
　　The continuum ceasing stage by stage,　the remaining mind arising in its wake,
　　not abiding upon the form,　upon what then does it cling and arise?
　　Because it arises from that (the foregoing thought),　and not from an as-it-truly-is cause,
　　then how can one speak of "nothing accomplished," and how can one know the "momentary perishing"?
　　The right-reception into which the practitioner enters,　and the diamond, and the buddha-relics,
　　the palaces of the Ābhāsvara heaven,　are all things of the world that do not perish.
　　What is won by abiding in the true dharma,　the Tathāgata's wisdom perfect and complete,
　　the bhikṣu winning equality (the dharma)　— how could he see it as momentary?
　　The gandharva-city, illusion, and the rest —　that form has no momentary perishing;
　　it is only toward that unreal form　that, looking upon it, one takes it for real.

Technical terms of this division (the arhat, anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi, nirvāṇa, the remainderless nirvāṇa, the śrāvaka vehicle, the great vehicle, the transformation-buddha, the dharma-buddha, the true Tathāgata, the two obstructions, the obstruction to knowledge, the obstruction of the afflictions, the no-self of persons, the no-self of dharmas, the two kinds of death, the four grounds of abiding, the ground of ignorance, mind-mentation-and-consciousness, the Tathāgata-womb, the store consciousness, the vajra-holding warriors, abiding in the bliss of the present dharma, the three kinds of pure meat, the three vehicles) are kept as they stand.

Mahāmati asks the World-Honored One about the five matters concerning the arhat's prophecy

At that time the bodhisattva Mahāmati again said to the Buddha: "World-Honored One! The World-Honored One gives the arhat his prophecy, saying that he shall attain to anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi, in no way different from the bodhisattvas. But if all sentient beings do not, as to the dharma, enter into nirvāṇa, then who is it that reaches the buddha-path? Again it is said: from the first attainment of buddhahood right up to the parinirvāṇa, in all that time the Buddha never spoke a single word, nor ever made any answer — for the Tathāgata dwells ever in concentration, without deliberating and without examining, it being a transformation-buddha that manifests and performs the buddha's deeds. If that is so, why then is it also said that 'consciousness is a mark that perishes moment by moment, evolving on in succession'? And again it is said: the vajra-holding warriors are ever in attendance at his side. And again: he does not set up any first limit. And again: he shows forth Māra and the manifold works of Māra, and the fruits recompensing evil karma too — such as being slandered by the brahmin-woman Ciñcā and by Sundarī, or holding out an empty bowl as he went. These obstructions of evil karma the Tathāgata likewise shows forth, one and all. Said thus, how can the Tathāgata be reckoned to have won omniscient knowledge and yet not be apart from the manifold faults?"

The Buddha told Mahāmati: "Listen well, and listen well! Ponder it well and bear it in mind — I shall expound it for you."

Mahāmati said to the Buddha: "It is well, World-Honored One! With all my heart I receive the teaching."

The Buddha answers: it is the transformation-buddha that prophesies, so as to draw and urge on the two vehicles

The Buddha told Mahāmati: "This is spoken for the sake of the remainderless nirvāṇa; it is to draw and urge on those who practise the bodhisattva-practice. In this world and in other worlds there are those practising the bodhisattva-practice who take delight in the nirvāṇa of the śrāvaka vehicle; and so as to make them leave the śrāvaka vehicle and advance toward the great vehicle, the transformation-buddha gives the śrāvakas their prophecy — it is the transformation-buddha that prophesies, and not the dharma-buddha. Mahāmati! It is for just this reason that the śrāvakas are prophesied to be in no way different from the bodhisattvas.

"Mahāmati! To say 'in no way different' means that the śrāvakas, the pratyekabuddhas, and the buddha-tathāgatas alike cut off the obstruction of the afflictions and alike win the one taste of liberation; it does not mean that they cut off the obstruction to knowledge as well. Mahāmati! The obstruction to knowledge is cut off only by seeing the no-self of dharmas, supreme and purified. The obstruction of the afflictions is cut off thus: having first practised the seeing of the no-self of persons, one cuts off the seven consciousnesses and makes them cease, and the obstruction to the dharma is undone, and the perfuming stored in consciousness ceases — and only then is there ultimate purity.

The two obstructions are cut off severally · the two kinds of death are left behind · the Tathāgata-womb is the cause of birth-and-death and nirvāṇa, pain and pleasure

"Because there is a dharma abiding from the very origin, the earlier limit and the later limit are alike without [own-]nature. And because of the inexhaustible original vow, the Tathāgata — though without deliberating and without examining — is yet able to expound the wondrous dharma: this is because it is what right knowledge manifests, and because right mindfulness is unforgetting; and so, without deliberating or examining, he is able to expound the dharma. Because the perfuming of the four grounds of abiding and of the ground of ignorance is cut off, both obstructions — the obstruction of the afflictions and the obstruction to knowledge — are cut off; and thereupon the two kinds of death are left behind, the no-self of persons and the no-self of dharmas are awakened to, and both obstructions are cut off entire.

"Mahāmati! Mind, mentation, and mental consciousness, together with the eye-consciousness and the rest — these seven consciousnesses, because the moment-by-moment cause of the perfuming that arises is left behind, and the one portion that is good and undefiled is left behind too, no longer evolve in birth-and-death. Mahāmati! This Tathāgata-womb is the very cause of birth-and-death and of nirvāṇa, of pain and of pleasure. It is empty and confounds the foolish mind. Mahāmati! This is what the foolish common person cannot awaken to.

The transformation-buddha is not the true Tathāgata · the potter's wheel simile

"Mahāmati! What the vajra-holding warriors attend upon and guard is only the transformation-buddha, and not the true Tathāgata. Mahāmati! That true Tathāgata is apart from all that the sense-faculties can measure. For all common persons, śrāvakas, pratyekabuddhas, and outsiders — the measuring of their sense-faculties is, in him, wholly extinguished; he wins the abiding in the bliss of the present dharma, and wins the unhindered forbearance of the knowledge of the dharma, and so is not one whom the vajra-holding warriors guard. None of the transformation-buddhas is born of karma. That transformation-buddha, transformed from a transformation — to call him buddha, he is not; to call him apart from buddha, he is yet not apart from buddha. He is one who, following the marks made by the workings of sentient beings — as a potter's wheel turns out its vessels — expounds the dharma for them; it is not that in the place of his own realization and penetration he expounds the realm of his own awakening.

The foolish, resting on the ceasing of the seven consciousnesses, give rise to the annihilation-view · not awakening to the store consciousness, they give rise to the eternalist view

"Furthermore, Mahāmati! the foolish, resting on the ceasing of the body of seven consciousnesses, give rise to the annihilation-view; and because they cannot awaken to that store of consciousness, they give rise to the eternalist view. It is by their own false imagining that they do not know the first limit. When the wisdom that is their own false imagining ceases, only then do they win liberation. When the perfuming of the four grounds of abiding and of the ground of ignorance is cut off, all faults whatsoever are thereby cut off."

Restating this meaning · the verse that the three vehicles are no [ultimate] vehicle

At that time the World-Honored One, wishing to restate this meaning, spoke in verse:

　　The three vehicles are in truth no [ultimate] vehicle,　nor is the Tathāgata worn away and cut off;
　　all this is what every buddha has taught,　taught so as to teach men to leave the manifold faults.
　　For the sake of that unhindered knowledge,　and for the sake of the remainderless nirvāṇa,
　　to draw and urge on the manifold lowly ones,　it is therefore taught under a veil.
　　The knowledge to which the buddhas give rise　discriminates and expounds the manifold paths;
　　in truth the [several] vehicles are no [ultimate] vehicle,　nor is that the true nirvāṇa.
　　Desire, form, existence-craving, and view —　these are called the four grounds of abiding;
　　they are what the mental consciousness gives rise to,　consciousness the dwelling, mentation abiding therein.
　　When mentation and the eye-consciousness and the rest　are cut off and cease, it is called impermanence;
　　but at times a man gives rise to the view of nirvāṇa,　and so for him it is taught as eternally abiding.

Mahāmati asks in verse about wine, meat, onions, and garlic

At that time the bodhisattva Mahāmati made his request in verse:

　　Those bodhisattvas who seek the buddha-path —
　　wine, meat, and onions among their foods, how are these to be regarded?
　　I pray the unsurpassed World-Honored One, in pity for us, will expound it.
　　These are what the foolish crave,　foul and of no good repute,
　　the relish of tigers and wolves —　how can they be taken as food?
　　The one who eats them gives rise to manifold faults;　not to eat is the blessing and the good.
　　I pray you will expound for us　the sin and the merit of eating and not eating.

When the bodhisattva Mahāmati had finished making his request in verse, he again said to the Buddha: "I pray the World-Honored One will expound for us the merit and the fault of eating meat and not eating meat. I and the bodhisattvas, in the present and in the future, would expound the dharma severally for the manifold sentient beings who long to eat meat, that those sentient beings might turn toward one another with a mind of kindness. Having won the mind of kindness, each in his own ground would be pure and clear, and would soon win the ultimate, unsurpassed awakening. Even the śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas, resting in the ground each has reached, would likewise accomplish the unsurpassed awakening. Even that company of outsiders who hold to evil and false doctrines, clinging to the false views of annihilation and eternity, calculating and clinging upside-down — even they yet have a restraining dharma and do not permit the eating of meat; how much less the Tathāgata, the world's protector and refuge, the accomplisher of the true dharma — how should he eat meat?"

The Buddha told Mahāmati: "It is well, it is well! Listen well, and listen well! Ponder it well and bear it in mind — I shall expound it for you."

Mahāmati said to the Buddha: "Yes, with all my heart I receive the teaching."

The Buddha expounds at large the manifold reasons why one should not eat meat

The Buddha told Mahāmati: "There are measureless reasons why one should not eat meat; now I shall expound them for you in brief. That is to say: all sentient beings, from the very origin, in the turning wheel of causes and conditions, have ever been one another's six kinds of kin; because one is to hold them as kin, one should not eat meat. The flesh of donkey, mule, camel, fox, dog, ox, horse, human, and beast — the butcher sells it all mixed together, past telling apart; therefore one should not eat meat. Meat grows from an unclean semen-and-blood source; therefore one should not eat meat. When sentient beings so much as smell the scent of one who eats meat, they are all struck with terror — as when they meet a caṇḍāla or a ḍombha and the like, whom the very dogs abhor at sight, barking in terror by the pack; therefore one should not eat meat. Eating meat, moreover, keeps the mind of kindness from arising in the one who practises; therefore one should not eat meat. Meat is what the foolish crave, foul and unclean, of no good repute; therefore one should not eat meat. Eating meat keeps the manifold spells from being accomplished; therefore one should not eat meat. Because the one who kills, at the sight of the shape and color of that flesh, gives rise to a perceiving and clings deeply to the relish of the meat; therefore one should not eat meat. The one who eats meat is spurned by the gods; therefore one should not eat meat. Eating meat makes the breath foul; therefore one should not eat meat. Eating meat brings on many evil dreams; therefore one should not eat meat. In the open and silent forest, tigers and wolves catch the scent of the meat and come; therefore one should not eat meat. Eating meat makes food and drink know no measure or limit; therefore one should not eat meat. Eating meat keeps the mind of world-weariness from arising in the one who practises; therefore one should not eat meat. I have ever said: whatever one eats and drinks, one is to hold the thought that it is the flesh of one's own child, and to hold the thought that it is the taking of medicine; therefore one should not eat meat. To say that eating meat is permitted — there is no such principle at all.

King Siṃha-saudāsa ate men and lost his kingdom

"Furthermore, Mahāmati! in the past there was a king named Siṃha-saudāsa. He ate the manifold kinds of meat, and ate on until at last he came to eating men; his ministers and people could not endure it, and so they revolted, cut off his stipend, and put him from his place. Because eating meat has such a fault as this, one should not eat meat.

Money for a net · in this scripture all is cut off entire

"Furthermore, Mahāmati! all those who take life do so for the sake of gain and profit; only so do they take life, slaughter, and sell. Those foolish sentient beings who eat meat make of money a net to catch that meat. Those who take life, whether with goods or with hook and net, catch the manifold sentient beings that fly in the air, that dwell in the water, that walk on the land — slaying them in manifold ways, slaughtering and selling for profit. Mahāmati! Nor is there ever a case of one who 'never taught the killing, never sought the killing, never gave rise to the thought of killing' and yet came to have fish and meat of himself. For this reason, one should not eat meat.

"Mahāmati! At times I have also taught the barring of five kinds of meat, or laid down the restraint of ten. But now, in this scripture, it is for all kinds and at all times that I take away the expedients formerly permitted — all meat whatsoever is cut off entire. Mahāmati! The Tathāgata, the Worthy One, the Perfectly Awakened One, eats nothing whatever — how much less fish and meat! Nor does he teach others to eat. Because he goes with great compassion for his forerunner, regarding all sentient beings as though they were his only child, he does not permit others to eat the flesh of his child."

Restating this meaning · the long verse on abstaining from meat

At that time the World-Honored One, wishing to restate this meaning, spoke in verse:

　　Sentient beings have all been one another's kin;　and meat, moreover, is base, foul, unclean, and confused,
　　growing from what is unclean —　sentient beings smelling its scent are all struck with terror.
　　All meat and onions,　and the manifold leeks, garlic, and the like,
　　and the manifold wines that make men heedless —　the one who practises should ever keep far from these.
　　He should ever keep far from sesame oil too,　and from beds that are bored through with holes,
　　for in the holes of such beds are tiny creatures,　and within them there is utmost terror.
　　Food and drink give rise to heedlessness,　heedlessness gives rise to the manifold thought-imaginings,
　　from thought-imagining is craving born;　therefore one should not eat meat.
　　From eating meat craving is born,　craving in turn makes the mind drunk,
　　drunkenness fosters the desire of love,　and so from birth-and-death there is no release.
　　For the sake of profit sentient beings are slain,　goods are made a net to catch that meat;
　　the buyer and the slayer, these two alike do evil karma,　and after death fall into the howling hells.
　　If there be truly no teaching, thinking, or seeking,　then there is no such thing as the three kinds of pure meat;
　　that meat is not something that comes to be without cause,　therefore one should not eat it.
　　Those who practise, for this reason,　should one and all keep far away;
　　the buddha-world-honored-ones of the ten directions　with one voice reproach the eating of meat.
　　Sentient beings, in turn, devour one another,　and after death fall among tigers and wolves and the like;
　　foul, loathsome, and abhorrent,　the place where they are born is ever a place of delusion.
　　Many are born as caṇḍālas,　or born as hunters, or of the ḍombha stock,
　　or born as ḍākinīs,　and the manifold kinds whose nature is to eat meat,
　　rākṣasas, cats, and civets and the like —　all take birth within this [company].
　　In the Hastikakṣya and the Mahāmegha,　in the Aṅgulimālika,
　　and in this Laṅkāvatāra-sūtra,　I have in every one restrained and cut off meat.
　　The buddhas, together with the bodhisattvas and śrāvakas,　with one accord reproach the eating of meat;
　　the man who eats meat and yet feels no shame　lives, birth after birth, ever in the dark of delusion.
　　Formerly it was said: the meat seen killed, heard killed, or suspected killed for oneself is one and all cut off;
　　that is because, out of false imagining, they cannot awaken to it, and so come to be born where meat is eaten.
　　Just as the faults of craving-desire　obstruct the sage's liberation,
　　so wine, meat, onions, leeks, and garlic　are all likewise obstructions to the noble path.
　　Sentient beings of the ages to come,　concerning the eating of meat, will foolishly say:
　　that this meat is pure and without fault,　and that the Buddha permits us to eat it.
　　In truth, in eating one should hold the thought of taking medicine,　and should hold too the thought of eating the flesh of one's child;
　　knowing measure and giving rise to world-weariness,　the one who practises should keep to the alms-round.
　　Of the one who rests in the mind of kindness,　I say that he should ever keep to world-weariness;
　　even with tigers, wolves, and the manifold evil beasts,　he may roam and rest as their companion.
　　If one eats the manifold blood and flesh,　sentient beings are all struck with terror;
　　therefore the one who practises,　with a mind of kindness, does not eat meat.
　　The one who eats meat is without compassion,　forever turned away from true liberation,
　　and runs counter to the mark of the sages;　therefore one should not eat.
　　To win birth in a brahmin's stock,　and in the manifold places of practice,
　　in a house of wisdom and of wealth —　all this is by reason of not eating meat.