The Lankavatara Sutra

by Red Pine

  10 Shakra is chief among gods. Brahma is creator of the universe.

  11 Malaya is a not-so-veiled reference to the eighth form of consciousness, or alaya–vijnana.

  12 The Sanskrit is sva–pratyatma–arya–jnana. The personal experience of what buddhas know is the second of this sutra’s principle teachings. This phrase also appears at the very end of this chapter.

  13 Two categories of Hinayana Buddhists devoted to self-liberation and the attainment of nirvana, as opposed to the liberation of all beings and the attainment of enlightenment that characterizes Mahayana Buddhism.

  14 Ravana was the ten-headed king of Lanka. His name means “He of the Terrifying Roar,” referring to his screams of agony while pinned under a mountain by Shiva. He is still reviled in India for his abduction of the wife of Rama. The yakshas were one of the tribes of ancient India and were demonized along with their king.

  15 In this sutra, the mind is viewed as the repository of what remains from all the images we have previously projected upon an “external” world as well as upon an “internal” world and also the source of subsequent projections. Bodhiruchi alone attributes the perception of thoughts here to the Buddha, rather than to Ravana. Still, it is by the power of the Buddha that Ravana sees such thoughts and sees them in a way that agrees with the underlying metaphor of the mind as an ocean and thoughts as its waves.

  16 The clockwise circumambulation of a holy person or place was an ancient way of showing respect in India.

  17 Vaidurya, aquamarine, a blue form of beryl. After gold and silver, this was the most precious of the sapta–ratna, or “seven jewels.” It was later replaced by lapis lazuli, which was far cheaper and easier to obtain.

  18 A poetic form usually consisting of quatrains.

  19 Grama and murchana are the names of the two earliest known modes or scales of Indian music. The Sanskrit text includes the names of six of their seven keys: saharshya, rishabha, gandhara, dhavata, nishada, and madhyama. That level of detail, however, is only present in the Sanskrit, hence I’ve decided to follow the Chinese in this case.

  20 A raga played in the morning in praise of deities.

  21 A poetic form of twelve-syllable lines consisting of four identical three-syllable feet. However, the Sanskrit text of the gathas that follow is no longer in the totaka meter, assuming it was originally.

  22 Celestial females known for their beauty and grace and also their skill as dancers.

  23 Counselors of Ravana who once disguised themselves as monkeys to spy on Rama.

  24 The Sanskrit is pratyatma–gati–gocaram, where gocara (pasture) refers to a perceptual field and/or the objects within that field, while pratyatma–gati means “personally realized.”

  25 Here and elsewhere, this expression refers to bodhisattvas. The Sanskrit is jina–putra.

  26 Brother of Ravana. Like the yakshas, the rakshasas were among the ancient tribes of India. The two were related and often confused.

  27 An epithet of the Buddha meaning “Great Sage.”

  28 In Sanskrit ashoka means “free from sorrow.” It is also the name of the Sac–raca asoca, known for its dense green foliage and for its fragrant orange flowers that bloom in March and April.

  29 The three realms are those of desire, form, and formlessness.

  30 The reference here is both to those who dwell on Lanka as well as to those who practice self-realization.

  31 The Sanskrit is drshta–dharma–sukha. This phrase will make its appearance again, but not until sections LXXXII and LXXXIII.

  32 Another epithet of buddhas, sugata means “well gone.”

  33 According to both Bodhiruchi and Shikshananda.

  34 The male counterparts of apsaras, gandharvas were guardians of soma, a hallucinogenic concoction used by priests. They were also skilled musicians who lived in the sky. Hence, to refer to their cloud homes was tantamount to referring to an illusion.

  35 It should be clear from this and the foregoing that the teaching Ravana would hear is not that of “mind-only,” which he already understands, or thinks he understands, but that of personal realization, which distinguishes this sutra from all others.

  36 The Sanskrit is paravrtti–bhave, where paravrtti means “to overturn” and bhave means “existence.” In the Diamond Sutra (5), the Buddha says: “Since the possession of attributes is an illusion, Subhuti, and no possession of attributes is no illusion, by means of attributes that are no attributes the Tathagata can, indeed, be seen.” The third line refers to those whose meditative state is such that it no longer gives rise to thoughts.

  37 Along with the personal realization of buddha knowledge, this is the other thread that runs through this sutra, the teaching known as “mind-only,” that what we perceive is nothing but our own minds: sva–citta–drshya–matra.

  38 This sutra is clearly addressed to an audience familiar with the yoga teachings of the time, as can be inferred by the appearance of such terms as this. Elsewhere, I have tended to translate this term as “practitioner” to avoid association with any specific tradition.

  39 This is my standard rendering for citta–manas–mano–vijnana. By citta (mind) is meant the eighth, or repository, consciousness; by manas (will) is meant the seventh consciousness, which is also called “self-consciousness;” and by mano–vijnana (conceptual consciousness) is meant the sixth consciousness, which reifies the five sensory-based forms of consciousness into conceptual constructs. In the Lankavatara, conceptual consciousness is viewed as the root of misunderstanding. In other texts, the will is its source. It should be noted, however, that in the Lankavatara, this compound sometimes means simply “mind and consciousness.”

  40 In Section LXVIII, the Buddha lists the three continuities, or tri–samtati, as greed, anger, and delusion, which elsewhere are known as the “three poisons.”

  41 The womb of buddhas. The mind purified. The repository consciousness (alaya–vijnana) transformed.

  42 I’ve followed Bodhiruchi. Shikshananda has “from the sky and from within the palace,” and the Sanskrit has simply “from the sky.”

  43 The Vedas refer to the scriptures of the Brahmans. This is not present in the Sanskrit, which has instead: “Do not accept views concerning self-existence.” It is, however, present in Bodhiruchi and Shikshananda.

  44 The reference is to meditations aimed at acquiring the six powers.

  45 Again, paravrtti (overturning/transforming). But here the object is vijnana (consciousness), instead of bhave (existence) or ashrya (basis).

  46 These two terms are often used synonymously for the deeper states of meditation. When they are distinguished, samadhi refers to a wide range of specific meditations, while samapatti refers to the four formless meditations or to the combination of stillness and contemplation.

  47 The Lokayatas believed the world was composed of the four material elements of solidity (earth), moisture (water), warmth (fire), and movement (wind); the Sarvastivadins believed in an underlying substance that survived change; and the Samkhyas believed in the tendencies (gunas) of creation, stasis, and destruction that combined to form reality.

  48 Ravana hears the foregoing and knows it is spoken by the Buddha but does not see him.

  49 The Sanskrit is anutpattika–dharma–kshanti. The attainment of this realization—that nothing has arisen, now arises, or will arise—marks the eighth and essentially final stage of the bodhisattva path, as the ninth and tenth stages are “where tathagatas dwell.” While the Sanskrit specifies that Ravana had already attained such a realization, both Bodhiruchi and Shikshananda have variations of “would soon attain.” However, in the following pages, the Buddha describes Ravana’s future ascent from the unshakeable (eighth) stage to the dharma cloud or tathagata (tenth) stage. Hence, it would seem reasonable that he had already reached the eighth stage.

  50 The bodies of buddhas are said to be marked by thirty-two attributes, such as long arms and ear lobes, a curl in the middle of the forehead, a swastika in the middle of th
e chest, etc.

  51 This ancient symbol of unknown origin is also referred to as a shrivatsa. It often appears as a white curl in the middle of the chest of a buddha or one of the Hindu gods, such as Vishnu.

  52 A similar display of light coming from the Buddha’s body occurred prior to his ascension to the Tryantrinsha Heaven to teach his mother the abhidharma. Added to this display, the Buddha’s smile distinguishes this teaching with one of the hallmarks of Zen.

  53 The Four Guardians are protectors of the Dharma. Their statues line the entryway to most Buddhist monasteries in East Asia.

  54 Mount Sumeru (or Mount Meru) occupies the center of the Buddhist universe. This is not an idle comparison. According to early Hindu legends, Sumeru’s summit was blown off and fell into the sea to form the island of Lanka.

  55 The traditional genesis of Zen goes back to the day when the Buddha held up a flower, and Kashyapa smiled. Here, though, the Buddha smiles.

  56 The Sanskrit is prashnadvayam prshtavan (to ask a pair of questions). From what follows, we can see that these refer to dharmas and non-dharmas (adharma), both of which, as the Buddha explains below, are projections or fabrications and should be abandoned.

  57 To this, the Sanskrit adds, “for he wants to know how they differ, how they are constituted, and what they determine.”

  58 These are the eighth, ninth, and tenth bhumis, or stages, of the bodhisattva path: the acala, sadhu-mati, and dharma-megha bhumi. In addition, the Lankavatara also mentions a tathagata bhumi, or tathagata stage. Some commentators think this is meant as an eleventh stage. I suggest it is simply another name for the tenth stage.

  59 The remaining lines of this paragraph and the entirety of the next are absent in Shikshananda and are not clear in the Sanskrit. I have followed Bodhiruchi.

  60 Kinnaras were half–human and half–horse, while mahoragas were serpents.

  61 The tala, or palmyra palm, grows to heights of more than sixty feet. In ancient India, its fan-shaped leaves supplied early Buddhists with the material on which their scriptures were first written.

  62 This reminds me of Groundhog Day. Ravana has asked before, and the buddhas of the past have explained that all dharmas are fictions—be they dharmas or non-dharmas. And apparently he will be asking about this in the future.

  63 Both Bodhiruchi and Shikshananda have ken–pen–ju–lai (primordial buddhas), a term unique to this sutra. Elsewhere, this sutra presents an early version of the three bodies of every buddha: the body in which a buddha appears to others, the body in which a buddha attains and enjoys the bliss of realization, and a buddha’s real body, which is the teaching—or, as this sutra would have it, the knowledge of this teaching. Instead of “primordial buddhas,” Suzuki has “tathagatas of silence,” which apparently stems from reading the Sanskrit mauna (silent) instead of maula (ancient).

  64 The Buddha says this in Chapter Seven of the Diamond Sutra, among other places.

  65 In its undifferentiated state, the repository consciousness, or alaya–vijnana, is known as the tathagata–garbha, or womb of buddhas. The former represents the defiled mind, the latter the mind purified. For buddhas, they are one and the same. For the rest of us, they are different.

  66 The Sanskrit is kesha–undaka, or what we call “floaters,” which are visible when the eyes are closed. This is one of the Buddha’s standard similes for our misperception of what is real.

  67 Before proceeding, the Buddha establishes the non-difference between dharmas and non-dharmas. Although this doesn’t seem important, it will become so as non-dharmas turn out to have the same characteristics as dharmas, and dharmas are thus no more real than non-dharmas.

  68 The Sanskrit is arya–jnana, where arya refers to “the noble ones,” namely, buddhas.

  69 Dharmas and non-dharmas are likened here to the flames, among which any distinction must be arbitrary and not based on anything real.

  70 As with flames, distinctions of an object’s development are likewise arbitrary. Everything is in constant flux in time, just as everything is indivisible in space.

  71 Matrices of abhidharma categories such as these were used in early Buddhism for analysis of awareness according to variations of the basic internal-external (nama–rupa) division. The skandhas include form (external), sensation, perception, memory, and consciousness (internal). The ayatanas included the five powers of sensation (external) and their respective domains (external) along with the sixth power of the mind and its domain of thought (internal). The dhatus added the six forms of consciousness (internal) that arise from the conjunction of the twelve ayatanas.

  72 That is, they possess no characteristics themselves.

  73 Dharmas aren’t the problem. The problem is attachment to the distinctions on which dharmas are based. In this chapter, dharmas and non-dharmas are treated as equivalent to what in subsequent chapters are name and appearance, the first two of the five dharmas, which are the objects of projection.

  74 According to the doctrine of prajnapti–matra (mere designation/fabrication) taught by Yogacara teachers, everything turns out to be a non-dharma, or made-up reality. Since all dharmas are non-dharmas, to talk about one is to talk about the other, and there is no need to talk about both. Hence, throughout the rest of this sutra, the term “non-dharma” is not mentioned again. See Section XIX in Chapter Two.

  75 The Sanskrit for “reality” here is dharmata.

  76 The projection (vikalpa) of dharmas and the fabrication (prajnapti) of non–dharmas.

  77 The Buddha’s comment here refers to the projection of beings not to the beings themselves.

  78 The Sanskrit is ekagra.

  79 The Buddha waits until the very end of this chapter to provide a list of rubrics that he will use throughout the rest of the sutra to represent the moon toward which he points: the tathagata-garbha in contrast to the alaya-vijnana, self- realization of buddha knowledge in contrast to projection of dharmas and non-dharmas, tranquility in contrast to nirvana, oneness in contrast to multiplicity. Of course, “oneness” for the Buddha is neither oneness nor multiplicity. This is why the Buddha smiles. Bodhiruchi alone specifies “the samadhi of the forbearance of non–arising.”

  CHAPTER TWO:

  MAHAMATI’S QUESTIONS

  I1

  Mahamati had previously visited other buddhalands together with the other wise bodhisattvas. Now, by means of the Buddha’s power, he rose from his seat, uncovered his right shoulder, and touched his right knee to the ground. Pressing his hands together and bowing in reverence, he praised the Buddha in verse:

  1. “Like a flower in the sky / the world neither ceases nor arises / in the light of your wisdom and compassion3 / it neither is nor isn‘t4

  2. Transcending mind and consciousness / all things are like illusions / in the light of your wisdom and compassion / they neither are nor aren’t5

  3. The world is but a dream / neither permanent nor transient / in the light of your wisdom and compassion / it neither is nor isn‘t6

  4. There is no self in beings or things / no barriers of passion or knowledge / in the light of your wisdom and compassion / they neither are nor aren’t

  5. The Buddha doesn’t dwell in nirvana / nor does nirvana dwell in him / free from knowing and the known / he neither is nor isn’t7

  6. Who thus beholds Shakyamuni / serene and not arising8 / dwells without attachments / this life and the next.”

  II9

  After he had finished his verses in praise of the Buddha, Mahamati introduced himself:

  1. “My name is Mahamati / to plumb the depths of the Mahayana / I come before the Peerless One / with 108 questions.”10

  2. On hearing this request / the Knower of All Worlds / gazed upon the assembly / and told this son of buddhas

  3. “Ask your questions / Son of Victors / ask and I will explain / the realm of personal realization.”11

  Acknowledging the Bhagavan’s approval, Mahamati Bodhisattva touched his head to the Buddha’s feet, put his palms tog
ether in reverence, and asked in verse:

  4. “How is thinking purified / where does it come from / how should we regard delusion / where does it come from?

  5. Why are there lands and apparitions / attributes and other paths12 / stages of practice and freedom from projection13 / and what does ‘son of victor’ mean?14

  6. Where does liberation lead / who is bound and who is freed / what are the realms of meditation / why are there three paths?15

  7. How does causation work / what is a cause or an effect / why say they are different16 / and where do they come from?

  8. What are the formless meditations / what is cessation of perception / after all perceptions cease / how does awareness arise from trance?17

  9. How do effects come about / how do we control our body / how do we see what we see / where do stages come from?18

  10. Who breaks through all three realms19 / in what place and body / where are they then born / and why are there bodhisattvas?

  11. How are higher powers gained / masteries and samadhis / tell us, Victor of Victors / what is the mind in samadhi like?

  12. What is repository consciousness / the will and conceptual consciousness20 / how do they arise and cease / what makes sensation stop?

  13. What constitutes a lineage / no lineage or nothing but mind21 / how are attributes acquired / what does ‘no self’ mean?