The Lankavatara Sutra
Page 9
XX219
“Furthermore, Mahamati, there are five lineages of realization.220 And what are the five? They are the lineage of shravaka realization, the lineage of pratyeka-buddha realization, the lineage of tathagata realization, the indeterminate lineage, and the distant lineage.221
“How do we recognize the lineage of shravaka realization? Upon learning how to put an end to the individual and shared characteristics of the skandhas, the dhatus, and the ayatanas, the hair on their entire body stands on end, and they delight in cultivating a knowledge of characteristics but not in cultivating an awareness of dependent origination.222 This is what is meant by the lineage of shravaka realization. The realization of a shravaka belongs to the fifth and sixth stages.223 They put an end to the arising of passion but not to the habit-energy of passion. And they escape karmic deaths but do not escape imperceptible transformation deaths.224 They bellow the lion’s roar: ‘My lives have ended. I have walked the path of purity. I will not suffer another existence.’ Thus, they cultivate the knowledge that there is no self among persons and think that they have attained nirvana.
“Mahamati, those whose realization is distant225 also seek nirvana but think of it in terms of a self or a being or a life or an individuality.226 And there are followers of still other paths227 who think everything depends on a creator and when its existence comes to an end that is nirvana. Those who think like this are incapable of seeing that there is no self in dharmas, and for them there is no liberation. Mahamati, these lineages of shravaka realization and those of other schools do not transcend the concept of transcendence. You should practice with diligence to transform such pernicious views.
“Mahamati, as for the lineage of pratyeka-buddha realization, upon hearing about the realization of different causal conditions,228 the hair on their entire body stands on end, and they weep tears of sorrow, and they avoid conditions or any attachment to them. But when they hear about different bodies and powers and different transformations involving combination and separation, their minds are captivated. Anyone whose understanding belongs to the lineage of pratyeka-buddha realization is taught in accordance with the pratyeka-buddha path. This is what characterizes the lineage of pratyeka-buddha realization.
“Mahamati, as for the lineage of tathagata realization, there are four kinds:229 the lineage of realization concerned with the reality of dharmas,230 the lineage of realization concerned with the non-reality of dharmas,231 the lineage of realization concerned with the attainment of the personal realization of buddha knowledge, and the lineage of realization concerned with the splendors of external buddhalands. Mahamati, when someone hears these four described one after the other, as well as the inconceivable realm232 whereby their body, possessions, and the world around them are merely perceptions of their own minds, and they are not terrified or alarmed, this is what characterizes membership in the lineages of tathagata realization.
“Mahamati, the indeterminate lineage includes those who are instructed in these three lineages233 but who enter according to one teaching and succeed according to another. Mahamati, even if they are at the stage of initial purification where lineages are established, if they establish themselves beyond the projectionless stage,234 and they purify the habit-energy of their passions through the personal realization of the repository consciousness,235 and they see that dharmas have no self, even if they are shravakas dwelling in the bliss of samadhi, they will attain the glorious body of a tathagata.”236
XXI237
The Bhagavan then repeated this teaching in verse:
1. “The goal of finding the stream / returning once more or not at all / or reaching the birthless state238 / all are confusions of the mind
2. Sometimes I teach three paths / sometimes one and sometimes none / for fools and those of little wisdom / and the wise who dwell apart239
3. The teaching of ultimate truth / transcends all dualities / for those who dwell in projectionless realms240 / why create three paths?
4. Dhyanas and boundless states / samadhis devoid of form / cessation of perception241 / these don’t exist where there is only mind.”
XXII242
“As for icchantikas,243 Mahamati, if not icchantikas, who in this world would liberate them?244 There are two kinds of icchantikas, Mahamati,245 those who forsake good roots246 and those whose vows regarding others are without limits.
“Mahamati, what is meant by forsaking good roots? This refers to slandering the bodhisattva canon247 and falsely claiming it is not in accord with the teachings of liberation in the sutras or in the vinaya.248 Because they forsake their good roots, they don’t enter nirvana.
“Next are bodhisattvas whose practice includes the vow not to enter nirvana until all beings enter nirvana. However, Mahamati, what they mean by entering nirvana is characterized by not entering nirvana. Thus, they, too, follow the icchantika path.”
Mahamati asked, “Bhagavan, then which of these never enters nirvana?”
The Buddha replied, “Mahamati, bodhisattva icchantikas. They know that everything is already in nirvana. Thus, they never enter nirvana. This is not true of those icchantikas who forsake their good roots. Mahamati, even though they forsake their good roots, through the power of the tathagatas, at some point their good roots reappear. And how so? Because tathagatas do not forsake any being. This is why bodhisattva icchantikas do not enter nirvana.
XXIII249
“Moreover, Mahamati, bodhisattvas should be well acquainted with the three modes of reality.250 And what are the three modes of reality? Imagined reality, dependent reality, and perfected reality.
“Mahamati, imagined reality arises from appearances. And how does imagined reality arise from appearances?251 Mahamati, as the objects and forms of dependent reality appear, attachment results in two kinds of imagined reality. These are what the tathagatas, the arhats, the fully enlightened ones describe as ‘attachment to appearance’ and ‘attachment to name.’ Attachment to appearance involves attachment to external and internal entities, while attachment to name involves attachment to the individual and shared characteristics of these external and internal entities.252 These are the two kinds of imagined reality. What serves as the ground and objective support253 from which they arise is dependent reality.
“And what is perfected reality? This is the mode that is free from name or appearance or from projection. It is attained by buddha knowledge and is the realm where the personal realization of buddha knowledge takes place. This is perfected reality and the heart of the tathagata-garbha.”254
The Buddha then repeated the meaning of this in verse:
1. “Name and appearance and projection / these characterize two modes of reality / correct knowledge and suchness / these characterize the perfected mode.”255
“Mahamati, this is what is known as the teaching of how to view what characterizes the five dharmas and the modes of reality.256 This is the realm where the personal realization of buddha knowledge takes place and which you and other bodhisattvas should cultivate.”257
XXIV258
“Furthermore, Mahamati, bodhisattvas should become adept at examining the two kinds of phenomena that have no self. And what are the two kinds of phenomena that have no self? Neither beings nor dharmas have a self.
“And what does it mean that beings have no self? The assemblage of the skandhas, the dhatus, or the ayatanas arises from ignorance, karma, and desire and includes neither a self nor anything that belongs to a self.259 As the grasping and attachment of such senses as the eye to form give rise to consciousness, bodies, houses260 and the world of objects that are perceptions of one’s own mind are fabricated and manifested from one’s own projections. They change and disappear every moment, like a river or a seed or a candle or the wind or a cloud. Restless like a monkey, attracted to impurities like a fly, and insatiable like a windblown fire, they move like a waterwheel, through life after life and bodily form after bodily form, impelled by habit-energy without beginning, like figures produced
by some sort of magic trick or spell or mechanical device. To be skilled in the knowledge of such appearances means to know that beings have no self.
“And what does it mean to know that dharmas have no self? It means to be aware that the self-existence of the skandhas, dhatus, and ayatanas is imaginary, that the skandhas, dhatus, and ayatanas are devoid of a self or anything that belongs to a self, that the skandhas, dhatus, and ayatanas are assemblages tied to desire and karma and that they arise from the interplay of conditions but are themselves passive,261 and that all dharmas are like this. Through the power of imagination, fools give rise to erroneous projections devoid of individual or shared characteristics,262 but not the wise, because they transcend the mind, the will and consciousness, the five dharmas, and the modes of reality.263
“Mahamati, bodhisattvas should become adept at seeing no self in anything at all. Bodhisattvas who become adept at seeing no self in dharmas soon gain an insight into the freedom from projections that characterizes the initial bodhisattva stage,264 and they delight in examining the characteristics of such awareness. As they continue their steady advance, they go beyond the ninth stage to the dharma cloud stage,265 where they create huge lotus flowers decorated with countless jewels and resembling jeweled thrones on which they sit and practice in this realm of illusory existence, and where they are joined by bodhisattvas of similar attainment and their retinues. From every buddhaland, tathagatas come and anoint their foreheads, just as a cakravartin266 anoints the forehead of the crown prince. Having gone past the bodhisattva stage, they attain the personal realization of the realm of buddha knowledge. And because they see no self in any dharma, they acquire the incomparable dharma body of a tathagata. This is what no self in dharmas means. You and the other bodhisattvas should cultivate this.”
XXV267
Mahamati then asked the Buddha, “Bhagavan, please teach us about assertion and denial so that I and the other bodhisattvas can avoid these two pernicious views and quickly attain unexcelled, complete enlightenment, and once enlightened, we might avoid eternalistic assertions and nihilistic denials and not slander the true Dharma.”
Upon hearing Mahamati Bodhisattva’s request, the Buddha replied in verse:
1. “Assertions and denials / don’t exist where there is only mind / as for the body, the world and possessions / unable to see these are mind / and bereft of any wisdom / fools assert and deny.”268
The Buddha then explained the meaning of this verse and told Mahamati, “There are four kinds of assertion regarding what is nonexistent. And what are the four? They include assertions of a nonexistent characteristic, assertions of a nonexistent view, assertions of a nonexistent cause, and assertions of a nonexistent existence. These are the four kinds of assertion. As for denial, this means denying what is asserted because it cannot be grasped or observed. This is what is meant by assertion and denial.
“Mahamati, as for the assertion of a nonexistent characteristic, this refers to becoming attached to a nonexistent individual or shared characteristic among the skandhas, the dhatus, or the ayatanas as being like this and not other than this.2691his is what is meant by the assertion of a nonexistent characteristic. Such assertions of a nonexistent characteristic are the result of attachment to the habit-energy of different mistaken projections without beginning.
“Mahamati, as for the assertion of a nonexistent view, this refers to asserting the view of a self, a person, a being, a life, or an individuality among such entities as the skandhas, the dhatus, or the ayatanas. This is what is meant by the assertion of a nonexistent view.270
“Mahamati, as for the assertion of a nonexistent cause, this refers to an original consciousness which does not arise from causes that would render it unreal or illusory and which does not subsequently arise by itself but only arises after eyes, form, light, and memory arise. And once it exists, it ceases. This is what is meant by the assertion of a nonexistent cause.271
“Mahamati, as for the assertion of a nonexistent existence, this refers to attachment to assertions of the existence of what is uncreated, such as space, cessation, or nirvana.272 These neither exist nor do not exist. And any dharma that neither exists nor does not exist is like the perception of a rabbit horn or a horse horn or a strand of hair.273 It neither exists nor does not exist. This is what is meant by assertions of a nonexistent existence.274
“Assertions and denials are the projections of fools unskilled in examining what are nothing but perceptions of their own minds. This is not true of the wise. Therefore, you should practice avoiding the pernicious views of assertion and denial.
XXVI275
“Furthermore, Mahamati, once bodhisattvas have completely fathomed the characteristics of the mind, the will and conceptual consciousness, the five dharmas, the modes of reality, and the two kinds of no-self, in order to help others, they appear in a variety of guises, just as imagined reality is based on dependent reality.276 And like magic gems that reflect every color, they appear in every buddha assembly in every buddhaland, where they hear teachings that transcend those of shravakas and pratyeka-buddhas, teachings such as ‘all dharmas are like an illusion, a dream, a shadow, or moonlight on the water,’ and ‘avoid the arising or cessation, the permanence or impermanence of all dharmas.’
“And they enter hundreds of thousands of samadhis, countless hundreds of thousands of samadhis. And as they do so, they travel to other buddhalands and venerate other buddhas and are reborn in celestial palaces, where they praise the three treasures277 and appear as buddhas themselves surrounded by assemblies of shravakas and bodhisattvas, and where they liberate beings by explaining to them that what they perceive is nothing but their own mind and that external existence does not exist, thus enabling them to transcend such views as existence and nonexistence.”
The Buddha then repeated the meaning of this in verse,
1. “The world as nothing but mind / this is what bodhisattvas see / in different kinds of bodies / without the slightest effort / they attain higher powers / self-masteries and accomplishments.”278
XXVII279
Mahamati again asked the Buddha, “May the Bhagavan please explain to us how all things are empty, non-arising, non-dual, and devoid of self-existence so that once I and the other bodhisattvas understand that they are empty, non-arising, non-dual, and devoid of self-existence, we will be free of projections of existence and nonexistence, and we will quickly realize unexcelled, complete enlightenment.”280
The Buddha told Mahamati, “Listen closely and consider this well. I will now explain this for you.”
Mahamati answered, “Wonderful, Bhagavan. May we be so instructed.”
The Buddha began, “As for emptiness, Mahamati, emptiness belongs to an imagined reality. Mahamati, it is to those who are attached to an imagined reality that I speak of emptiness, non-arising, non-duality, and the absence of self-existence.281
“Mahamati, briefly, there are seven kinds of emptiness:282 the emptiness of characteristics, the emptiness of self-existence, the emptiness of phenomena, the emptiness of non-phenomena, the emptiness of ineffability, the great emptiness of the ultimate truth of buddha knowledge, and the emptiness of mutual exclusion.
“What is meant by the emptiness of characteristics? The emptiness of characteristics refers to the emptiness of the individual or shared characteristics of whatever exists. Because the observable distinctions of contrast and combination 283 are nonexistent, neither individual nor shared characteristics arise. And because the existence of this, that, or both together does not exist, characteristics do not persist. Thus, I say the characteristics of whatever exists are empty. This is what is meant by the emptiness of characteristics.
“What is meant by the emptiness of self-existence? This refers to the non-arising of something’s own existence. This is what is meant by the emptiness of something’s self-existence. Thus I speak of the emptiness of self-existence.
“What is meant by the emptiness of phenomena?284 This refers to the lack of a se
lf or anything that belongs to a self in the skandhas, which arise due to the conjunction of causes and the functioning of karma. This is what is meant by the emptiness of phenomena.
“Mahamati, since phenomena are empty, it turns out dependent reality is nonexistent.285 This is what is meant by the emptiness of non-phenomena.
“What is meant by the emptiness of the ineffability286 of things? This means that because imagined reality is devoid of words, everything is ineffable. This is what is meant by the emptiness of the ineffability of things.
“What is meant by the great emptiness of the ultimate truth of buddha knowledge?287 This refers to the emptiness of the habit-energy of all erroneous views upon attaining the personal realization of buddha knowledge. This is what is meant by the great emptiness of the ultimate truth of buddha knowledge.
“What is meant by the emptiness of mutual exclusion? This refers to the emptiness of this not applying to that. This is what is meant by the emptiness of mutual exclusion.288 For example, Mahamati, if there are no elephants or horses, oxen or sheep in Mrigaramatri Vihara but not no monks, and we say it is empty, the vihara itself isn’t empty, and the monks themselves are not empty, and it is not that elephants and horses are not present elsewhere. This refers to the individual characteristics of things, whereby one is not present in another. This is what is meant by the emptiness of mutual exclusion. Among these seven kinds of emptiness, the emptiness of mutual exclusion is the crudest kind of emptiness289 and should be avoided.