by Hsuan Hua
* * *
Ch. yuan tong 圓通, which more literally might be translated “penetrate all the way through” or “connect without obstruction.”↩
Twenty-five sages now testify to the efficacy of twenty-five practices involving or related to the eighteen constituents or to the seven primary elements. The constituents and the elements are presented largely in the order in which they are discussed in part 3 above. The exceptions are that the six kinds of perceived object are given first, with sounds preceding visible objects, and that the ear-faculty is presented last.↩
The numbering of the sages has been added for the present translation.↩
Each of the first six sages focused his practice on understanding the unreality of one of the kinds of perceived objects and then on understanding these objects’ true nature, which is the Matrix of the Thus-Come One, as shown in part 3 above. Ājñātakauṇḍinya and the four monks were the ascetics whom the Buddha taught first after his enlightenment. Accordingly, Ājñātakauṇḍinya is the first to answer the Buddha’s question here. His testimony, which is that his enlightenment came through hearing the Buddha’s instructions, praises the efficacy of sound as a focus of contemplation.↩
His name was Kauṇḍinya. “Ājñāta” is an epithet interpreted as meaning “the first to know.”↩
Upaniṣad testifies to the efficacy of contemplating visible objects.↩
That is, they have no permanent, independent attributes and so are empty.↩
This sage testifies to the efficacy of odors as the objects of contemplation.↩
These two sages, who count as one in the enumeration of twenty-five, testify to the efficacy of flavors.↩
That is, the first three heavens of the realm of form; see part 9.11 below.↩
That is, flavor arises neither from the tongue-faculty (the “body”) nor from the tongue-consciousness (the “mind”). (Yuanying, 777)↩
This sage testifies to the efficacy of tangible objects — in this case, bathwater. His name means “Virtuous Protector.”↩
That is, a Bodhisattva.↩
Mahākāśyapa testifies to the efficacy of objects of cognition.↩
Skt. śarīra, Ch. she li 舍利, a sage’s relics that remain after cremation.↩
Mahākāśyapa is said to be sitting in that samādhi of cessation inside Mount Jizu in southwestern China, where he is waiting for the Bodhisattva Maitreya to appear in the world as the next Buddha so that he can present Maitreya with the Buddha Śākyamuni‘s robe and bowl.↩
Skt. dhūta. The twelve ascetic practices approved by the Buddha as beneficial are wearing ragged robes, possessing only three robes, making the almsround for one’s food, making the almsround sequentially, eating only one meal a day, eating a fixed and moderate amount of food, not drinking juices after noon, dwelling in a quiet place, dwelling beneath a tree, dwelling out in the open, dwelling in a graveyard, and never lying down.↩
The next five sages relate how they used one of their faculties of perception to turn their attention inward. Aniruddha begins the sequence by testifying to the efficacy of the eye-faculty.↩
Consideration of the ear-faculty, instead of being next in the sequence, is postponed for consideration by the Bodhisattva Who Hears the Cries of the World, the twenty-fifth sage. Kṣudrapanthaka here testifies to the efficacy of the nose-faculty.↩
This sage testifies to the efficacy of the tongue-faculty.↩
This sage testifies to the efficacy of the body-faculty.↩
This sage testifies to the efficacy of the cognitive faculty.↩
This sage and the five that follow testify to the efficacy of each of the six consciousnesses in turn.↩
Skt. Samantabhadra, Ch. Puxian 普賢. This Bodhisattva, who is an important focus of reverence in the Mahāyāna tradition, here testifies to the efficacy of the ear-consciousness.↩
That is, by karma.↩
Skt. pāramitā. See part 4.3, p. 156, and note 20.↩
That is, the five aggregates.↩
Here the Sutra considers the tongue as the organ of speech rather than its usual role in the Sutra as the organ of taste.↩
Ch. xing ye 性業 and zhe ye 遮業.↩
The Sutra here conflates two personages in the Buddhist tradition: Upāli, the precept-master, and Channa, who was the Buddha’s charioteer before the Buddha left his royal household to seek enlightenment.↩
That is, the sixth consciousness.↩
That is, the true mind.↩
That is, the flux of the mind-consciousness.↩
Skt. Ucchuṣma, Ch. Huatou 火頭.↩
This is the first of seven testimonies concerning the seven primary elements, presented in a slightly different order than in part 3.5 above, in that here fire is considered first and awareness is considered last. These sages describe how they understood the essential identity of mind, body, and world through the contemplation of one or another of the primary elements, which are present everywhere. Fire-Head begins the series with testimony describing the contemplation of the fire in his body and eventually of the fire in his mind.↩
See part 8.2 below.↩
The thousandth and last of the Buddhas of the previous eon.↩
That is, the Śurāńgama Samādhi.↩
According to Buddhist cosmology, the Fragrant Seas are bodies of water that lie in concentric circles around Mount Sumeru; they are separated from each other by circular mountain ranges.↩
The Bodhisattva Brilliance of Lapis Lazuli contemplates the identity not only of body and world but of mind, body, and world, in that all are impelled by the primary element wind — that is, they all move.↩
The Bodhisattva Matrix of Space contemplates the identity of mind, body, and world (here, the Buddha-lands). All are pervaded by the primary element space. First, he understands the identity of lands and space and, second, the identity of mind and space, in that his mind becomes a flawless mirror. Third, he sees that his body is also identical with space, and fourth, since body and world are identical, lands can enter his body.↩
According to Buddhist tradition, the Bodhisattva Maitreya is the founder of the Consciousness-Only school. See page xxx.↩
Skt. Mahāsthāmaprāpta, Ch. Dashizhi 大勢至.↩
Skt. Avalokiteśvara, Ch. Guanshiyin 觀世音, the twenty-fifth of these sages. See note 49 below.↩
Skt. cakravarti-rāja, in Indian tradition, a wise, benevolent, and capable world-ruler.↩
See part 9.4 below, where fifty-seven stages are described: the fifty-two mentioned here, plus the stage of arid wisdom and the four additional stages.↩
Skt. namas or namaste, Ch. namo 南無, a respectful and reverent greeting.↩
Skt. Avalokiteśvara, Ch. Guanshiyin 觀世音. The name can be interpreted as Avalokita-īśvara (The Sovereign Who Contemplates the World) or as Avalokita-svara (the One Who Hears the Cries of the World). Both alternatives, in their Chinese translations, are present in the Chinese Buddhist tradition; Guanzizai 觀自在 renders Avalokita-īśvara, and Guanshiyin 觀世音, often shortened to Guanyin 觀音, renders Avalokita-svara. The Chinese text of the Śūraṅgama Sūtra uses the name Guanshiyin.↩
The testimony of this twenty-fifth and last sage focuses on the efficacy of the ear-faculty. The Bodhisattva first reversed the direction of his aural attention, thus emptying sounds; next he emptied his awareness. To this pattern of emptying subject and object, described by previous sages as well, he adds the further step of emptying the emptying.↩
Part 5.↩
See p. 182.↩
The numbering was added for the present translation.↩
One of the two kinds of pratyekabuddha.↩
See part 4, note 18.↩
The other of the two kinds of pratyekabuddha.↩
These are beings who wish for rebirth in the heavens of form, where beings are beyond the influence of coarse desires. See part 9.11↩
The ruler of the Heaven of the Thirty-Three, the third of the heavens of
desire. See part 9.11.↩
The fifth of the heavens of desire.↩
The sixth of the heavens of desire,↩
Prohibiting killing, theft, sexual misconduct, lying, and intoxicants.↩
See p. 241.↩
Celestial musicians who are nourished by fragrances.↩
Celestial fighters. See part 9.12.↩
Celestial musicians. They have a human appearance, but with a single horn on their heads.↩
Spirits who have the appearance of large pythons.↩
That is, the past, present, and future.↩
That is, restore it to its original nature, which is the enlightened mind.↩
The Ven. Hsüan Hua added later in his commentary, at part 8.3, “This paralysis [inflicted by the kumbhāṇḍa ghost] is only effective on people who have an excess of yin energy, such as people who are always worried and depressed, afflicted, upset, and distressed. People who follow the Buddha’s Path can have pure yang energy — a kind of light” (VI, 129–30).↩
Ven. Zhen Jiao notes that these people can be freed of their anger because they understand that there is no subject and no object (Zhen Jiao, 1615).↩
For these beings the text gives the Chinese characters e dian jia, 阿顛迦, presumably a shortening of e dian di jia 阿顛底迦, Skt. ātyantika, those devoid of intent to seek enlightenment.↩
In the Chinese, there are 250 five-character unrhymed lines without stanza divisions.↩
At this point, Mañjuśrī begins a consideration of the methods used by the twenty-five sages, starting with Upanṣad’s contemplation of the impurity of visible objects.↩
All the methods are effective, as the twenty-five sages have attested, as the Buddha has just confirmed, and as Mañjuśrī has just noted; however, what is being determined here is the most effective method for Ānanda and for future beings.↩
Ājñātakauṇḍinya and sounds are the referent here; Mañjuśrī now proceeds to consider each of the other objects of perception and each of the faculties of perception, largely in the order they were presented by the sages.↩
Above, in part 5.2, the eye-faculty is rated at two-thirds efficacy rather than half, as here. In the earlier passage, peripheral vision was included. But here the point is that the eye-faculty sees clearly only halfway around.↩
The six sense-consciousnesses are now considered, followed by the seven primary elements. The “threefold joining” refers to the combining of a perceiving faculty and a perceived object to activate the corresponding consciousness.↩
That is, gods on the planes of formlessness.↩
Fire-Head (Ucchuṣma) was able to subdue his desire by contemplating fire; but he was not a beginner.↩
The primary element consciousness, which includes the first six consciousnesses (of eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and cognition). See also part 3.5g.↩
This last consideration is of the primary element awareness as related to the practice of mindfulness of the Buddha Amitābha.↩
That is, if he had been practicing directing his hearing inward.↩
The eye-disease is given as an example in part 2.11.↩
The text is terse here. The translation follows the interpretation of the Ven. Yuanying (979). “The marvelous ones” are the fourth-stage Arhats.↩
Skt. dhyāna, Ch. chan 禪.↩
This is the young woman of the Mātaṅga clan whose mantra set in motion the events of the Sutra, as related in the prologue.↩
Skt. anuttara-samyak-saṁbodhi, the enlightenment of the Buddha.↩
Four Clear and Definitive Instructions on Purity
On Sexual Desire
Ānanda straightened his robes and in the midst of the assembly placed his palms together and bowed. At once joyful and sorrowful, he now understood perfectly the path his mind had taken. Wishing to benefit the beings of the future, he bowed his head and said respectfully, “Greatly Compassionate World-Honored One, now I understand this Dharma for becoming a Buddha. I can practice this method unhindered by the slightest doubt. I have often heard the Thus-Come One say that Bodhisattvas resolve to help others make the crossing1 before completing the crossing themselves, while the Buddhas, having already completed the crossing, act in the world by guiding others to enlightenment. I myself have not completed the crossing, but I vow to bring across all beings who live in the future in the time of the Dharma’s ending.
“World-Honored One, the beings of that time will have become more and more distant from the Buddha. As many false teachers as there are sand-grains in the River Ganges will pretend to teach the Dharma. Should any beings of that time wish to guard and focus their minds so that they can enter samādhi, how may I guide them towards establishing a place for awakening where their practice will be secured against demonic disturbances and where they will not retreat from their resolve to become enlightened?”
Then the World-Honored One praised Ānanda before the great assembly, saying, “Excellent! Excellent! You have asked how a place for awakening may be established in order to rescue and protect beings who are sinking and drowning during the time of the Dharma’s ending. Listen carefully, and I will tell you.” Ānanda and all the others in the assembly replied that they would respectfully accept and follow the instructions.
The Buddha said to Ānanda, “When I have explained the vinaya, you have often heard me speak of the three essential elements of spiritual practice: precepts, which require us to guard and focus the mind; samādhi, which arises from following precepts; and wisdom, which appears out of samādhi. These are the three practices that end outflows.
“Ānanda, why do I say that to follow the precepts is to guard and focus the mind? In all worlds, beings in the six destinies2 whose minds are free of sexual desire will not be bound to an unending cycle of deaths and rebirths. No matter how much you may practice in order to transcend the stress of entanglement with perceived objects, you will never transcend that stress until you have freed yourself from sexual desire. Even very intelligent people who can enter samādhi while practicing meditation in stillness will be certain to fall into the realm of demons upon their rebirth if they have not renounced sexual activity. The best among them will become kings among demons; those at intermediate levels will be members of demon hordes; female demons will be at the lowest levels. These demons will attract groups of disciples and will tell them that they have realized unsurpassed enlightenment. After my nirvana, in the time of the Dharma’s ending, many such demonic hordes will sweep like wildfire across the world and will openly parade their lustfulness while pretending to be good and wise teachers. These demons will cause beings to fall into the pit of sexual desire and wrong views concerning desire, and they will stray off the road to perfect enlightenment. Therefore, when you teach people to practice samādhi, first teach them to rid their minds of sexual desire. That is the first of four clear and definitive3 instructions on purity that have been given by the Thus-Come One and by all the Buddhas of the past, World-Honored Ones.
When deviant teachers explain their methods, their primary topic is sexual desire. The things they say are unprincipled. This should be distinguished clearly from the teachings of Bodhisattvas, who out of their compassion use kind words and a protective heart in their teaching, knowing that all living beings are steeped in desire. Every living being has thoughts of sexual desire. So a Bodhisattva does not expect them to put an end to emotional love and desire immediately, but he uses all kinds of expedient means to get them to see through and renounce sexual desire. Then they can put a stop to it themselves. This is the state of a Bodhisattva, totally different from the state of the deviant teachers who encourage beings in their desires. (VI, 6)
In fact, if you do not put an end to your sexual desire, it will be impossible for you to escape the mundane defilements of the world, because thoughts of sexual desire are themselves defiling.... Not to speak of engaging in lustful practices, even the presence of such thoughts is unclean. If you don’t renounce sexual desire, it’s entirely
unreasonable to hope to become enlightened and become a Buddha. (VI, 11)
“Therefore, Ānanda, one who practices entering samādhi while practicing meditation in stillness without renouncing sexual activity is like one who cooks sand in the hope that it will turn into rice. A hundred thousand eons might pass and it would still be nothing but hot sand, since it wasn’t rice to begin with. It was merely sand.
“In seeking the wondrous enlightenment of the Buddha while you still have sexual desire, you may gain some understanding of that wondrous enlightenment, but that understanding will be rooted in sexual desire. If the basis of your understanding is sexual desire, you will continually be reborn among the three lowly destinies, bound to the cycle of death and rebirth with no hope of escape. Then how will you find your way to practice and realization of the Thus-Come Ones’ nirvana?
