by Red Pine
Mahamati said, “Wonderful, Bhagavan. May we be so instructed.”
The Buddha said, “Mahamati, foolish people cling to internal and external existence due to the habit-energy of their attachments to projections of the self-existence of sameness or difference or both or neither, or of existence or nonexistence or neither existence nor nonexistence, or of permanence or impermanence, unaware they are nothing but their own mind.
“Mahamati, it is like when deer are oppressed by thirst, and they see a shimmering mirage, and thinking it is water, they rush foolishly toward it, unaware it isn’t water. In the same manner, foolish people are infected by the habit-energy of beginningless projections and fabrications and are inflamed by the fires of greed, anger, and delusion. Delighting in worlds of form and beholding their origination, duration, and cessation and clinging to external and internal existence, they fall prey to grasping and imagining conceptions of their sameness or difference or both or neither, or of their existence or nonexistence or neither existence nor nonexistence, or of their permanence or impermanence.
“It is like a city of gandharvas,330 which foolish people devoid of wisdom imagine as a city but which is the appearance of the habit-energy of their beginningless attachment to form and is neither a city nor not a city. In the same manner, there are followers of other paths who cling to views of sameness or difference or both or neither, or of existence or nonexistence or neither existence nor nonexistence, or of permanence or impermanence due to the habit-energy of their beginningless attachment to fictions and who are thus unable to see them as nothing but perceptions of their own minds.
“It is like when people dream331 they are in a place filled with men and women, elephants and horses, carts and pedestrians, towns and villages, orchards and forests, mountains and rivers, ponds and lakes. And upon waking, they remember this. Mahamati, what do you think? If these people don’t let go of the memory of what they have previously dreamt, are they wise or not?”
Mahamati replied, “They are not, Bhagavan.”
The Buddha told Mahamati, “The same is true of foolish people infected by erroneous views and the wisdom of followers of other paths who do not realize their views of sameness or difference or both or neither, or of existence or nonexistence or neither existence nor nonexistence, or of permanence or impermanence are the dreamlike perceptions of their own minds.
“It is like a landscape painting without height or depth332 in which foolish people imagine height and depth. The same is true of future followers of other paths full of the habit-energy of erroneous views. Due to their views of sameness or difference or both or neither, or of existence or nonexistence or neither existence nor nonexistence, or of permanence or impermanence, they harm themselves and harm others, calling them nihilists for maintaining the doctrines of non-arising and neither existence nor nonexistence. Denying causation, they sever their good roots and destroy the means to get free of impurity. Anyone who seeks transcendence should keep away from them. Once those who make such claims fall prey to views of self, other, or both and projections of existence or nonexistence, they become trapped in assertions and denials, and because of such mistaken conceptions, they end up in one of the hells..
“It is like someone with defective vision who sees a strand of hair and asks others if they see it. The strand of hair does not actually exist. But neither does it not exist, because it is seen and not seen. The same is true of the fantasies and longings of the followers of other paths, which are based on views of sameness or difference or both or neither, or of existence or nonexistence or neither existence nor nonexistence, or of permanence or impermanence, and with which they slander the true Dharma and mislead themselves and others.
“It is like a wheel of fire that is not a wheel.333 Foolish people imagine a wheel, but not the wise. In the same manner, the fantasies and longings of the followers of other paths are based on imagining whatever arises in terms of sameness or difference or both or neither, or of existence or nonexistence or neither existence nor nonexistence, or of permanence or impermanence.
“It is like raindrops, which look like jewels.334 Fools and those of little or no wisdom mistake them for gems and try to grab them. But raindrops are neither gems nor not gems because they are grasped and not grasped. Likewise, followers of other paths infected by the habit-energy of false views and projections regard what does not exist as arising and what exists due to causes as ceasing.335
“Furthermore, Mahamati, there are those conversant with the three means to knowledge336 or the five-part syllogism337 who imagine that there is something in the personal realization of buddha knowledge that exists apart from the two modes of reality.338 Mahamati, those who transform their mind, will, and conceptual consciousness put an end to the projections of grasping and grasped that are perceptions of their own minds. But those who cultivate the personal realization of buddha knowledge of the tathagata stage do not think of it as existing or not existing. If those who cultivate should develop a perception of the existence or nonexistence of such a realm, they would perceive an individuality, a self, or a person.
“Mahamati, any teaching involving the self-existence of individual or shared characteristics is the teaching of an apparition buddha, not the teaching of a real buddha. Moreover, all their teachings arise from the views and longings of foolish beings and are not for establishing teachings of another reality or for indicating the bliss of the samadhi attained by those who dwell in the personal realization of buddha knowledge.
“It is like the appearance of a tree’s reflection in water,339 which is not a reflection and not not a reflection, and which does not resemble a tree and does not not resemble a tree. In the same way, those who are infected by the habit-energy of heterodox views and attached to projections of sameness or difference or both or neither, or of existence or nonexistence or neither existence nor nonexistence, or of permanence or impermanence would not know that these are nothing but the perceptions of their own minds.
“It is like a clear mirror that shows all the shapes and images before it without discriminating among them.340 They are not images and not not images. But they are seen as images or not depending on whether foolish people discriminate them as such. In the same way, the misconceptions of the followers of other paths appear as images of their own minds, which they discriminate and cling to based on their views of sameness or difference or both or neither, or of existence or nonexistence or neither existence nor nonexistence, or of permanence or impermanence.
“It is like the sounds made when water and wind come together.341 They neither exist nor do not exist. In the same way, the misconceptions and projections of followers of other paths are based on views of sameness or difference or both or neither, or of existence or nonexistence or neither existence nor nonexistence, or of permanence or impermanence.
“It is like the heat waves that flow like rivers or well up like clouds in places barren of vegetation.342 They neither exist nor do not exist depending on the existence or not of thirst. The same is true of the ignorant. Infected by the habit-energy of beginningless fabrications, they imagine the sameness or difference or both or neither, or the existence or nonexistence or neither existence nor nonexistence, or the permanence or impermanence of origination, duration, and cessation as the knowledge of reality known to buddhas,343 just like heat waves.
“It is like when someone uses incantations to make something move that isn’t alive,344 or when something controlled by a pishaca345 moves and foolish people attached to the projection of movement say it exists. In the same way, the misconceptions and longings of followers of other paths are based on views of sameness or difference or both or neither, or of existence or nonexistence or neither existence nor nonexistence, or of permanence or impermanence. But they are attachments to fictions and not founded on anything real.
“Therefore, Mahamati, those who would attain the personal realization of buddha knowledge should abandon346 all views and projections concerning the sameness
or difference or both or neither, or concerning the existence or nonexistence or neither existence nor nonexistence, or concerning the permanence or impermanence of origination, duration, and cessation.”
The Buddha then repeated the meaning of this in verse:
1. “An illusion, a dream, the reflection of a tree in water / a strand of hair, a shimmering mirage / who views the three realms like this / finally attains liberation347
2. Just as the sight of a mirage / bewilders the mind as it shimmers / deer imagine water / where no water actually exists
3. Likewise seeds of consciousness348 / shimmer in the visible world / fools give rise to projections / as if they were looking through cataracts
4. Through birth and death without beginning / attached to grasping existence / removing one wedge with another / they renounce their desire to grasp
5. Like something that moves by magic / a cloud, a dream, or lightning / such insight results in liberation / and severs the three continuities forever349
6. There is no creator inside / things resemble a mirage in the sky350 / once you know they’re like this / there isn’t anything known
7. Designations are merely names / devoid of characteristics / but from them come projections / the skandhas are like strands of hair
8. Like strands of hair or paintings / illusions or dreams or gandharvan cities / shimmering mirages or wheels of fire / beings who don’t exist are thus perceived
9. Permanence or impermanence, sameness or difference / both of these or neither / the mistaken projections of fools / continuities without beginning
10. In water, a mirror, or an unclouded eye / in a miraculous jewel / countless forms are seen / none of which are real
11. Whatever exists appears / like a painting or a shimmering mirage / all the forms that are seen / are like a dream in which nothing is real.”
XXXVI351
“Moreover, Mahamati, the teaching of the tathagatas is free from the four possibilities352 of sameness or difference or both or neither, or of existence or nonexistence or neither existence nor nonexistence, or of permanence or impermanence and also free from projections of assertion or denial of existence or nonexistence. What the tathagatas chiefly teach are the truths of the scriptures, dependent origination, the path, cessation, and liberation.353 Their teaching does not include a self-existence or a supreme lord or a spontaneous cause or minute particles or temporal periods or a continuously existing entity. Furthermore, Mahamati, it is in order to eliminate the twin obstructions of passion and knowledge that they put forth the series of 108 projection-free statements354 and distinguish the characteristics of the various paths and stages,355 as if they were caravan chiefs.356
XXXVII357
“Moreover, Mahamati, there are four kinds of meditation. And what are the four? They include beginner meditation, meditation on meaning, meditation on suchness, and tathagata meditation.
“What is meant by beginner meditation? This refers to what shravakas, pratyeka-buddhas, and followers of other paths practice, which is to focus primarily on meditating on the nonexistence of a personal self among the individual and shared characteristics of their bodily frame, on its impermanence, its suffering, and its impurity. Meditating on no other characteristics than these, they proceed from one to the next but without eliminating such characteristics.358 This is what is meant by beginner meditation.
“And what is meant by meditation on meaning?359 Given the absence of a self among the individual or shared characteristics of persons and the nonexistence of a self, an other, or both as taught by heterodox sects, this refers to meditating on the absence of a self among dharmas and on the meaning of the characteristics of the stages through which one steadily advances. This is what is meant by meditation on meaning.
“And what is meant by meditation on suchness?360 This refers to the projection of the projection of the two kinds of no-self361 and the projection of the non-arising of suchness. This is what is meant by meditation on suchness.
“And what is meant by tathagata meditation? This refers to enjoying the threefold bliss362 that characterizes the personal realization of buddha knowledge and to performing inconceivable deeds on behalf of other beings upon reaching the tathagata stage. This is what is meant by tathagata meditation.”
The Buddha then repeated the meaning of this in verse:
1. “Meditation practiced by beginners / meditation on the meaning of characteristics / meditation based on suchness / or the pure meditation of the tathagatas
2. On such shapes as the sun or moon / or a lotus in the depths of hell363 / or space after the fire364 / thus do practitioners contemplate
3. A myriad of objects such as these / fill the meditations of other schools / and those trapped in the realms / of shravakas or pratyeka-buddhas
4. Those who abandon these / are thereby free of projections / buddhas come from every land / with hands beyond conception / and touch their heads as one / and lead them into suchness.“365
XXXVIII366
Mahamati Bodhisattva then addressed the Buddha, “As for entering nirvana, Bhagavan, what is meant by ‘nirvana?’”
The Buddha replied, “Witnessing the transformation of the habit-energy of self-existence of the repository consciousness, the will, and conceptual consciousness, this is what is meant by nirvana. The nirvana of other buddhas and myself is the realm that is empty of self-existence.
“Moreover, Mahamati, nirvana is the realm of the personal realization ofbuddha knowledge. It is free from the existence or nonexistence of projections of permanence or impermanence. And why is it not permanent? Because projections of individual or shared characteristics are impermanent. Therefore it is not permanent.367 And why is it not impermanent? Because it is the personal realization attained by all sages of the past, the present, and the future. Therefore it is not impermanent.368
“Mahamati, nirvana is not annihilation or death. If nirvana were death, there would be the continuity of something reborn. And if nirvana were annihilation, it could be characterized as something created.369 Therefore, nirvana is free from annihilation and free from death. This is why it is the refuge of practitioners.
“Moreover, Mahamati, nirvana isn’t lost, and it isn’t found. It isn’t impermanent, and it isn’t permanent. It doesn’t have one meaning, and it doesn’t have multiple meanings.370 This is what is meant by nirvana.
“Furthermore, Mahamati, the nirvana of shravakas and pratyeka-buddhas consists in an awareness of individual and shared characteristics, in avoiding contact, in an end to delusions, and in not giving rise to projections.371 This is their idea of nirvana.
XXXIX372
“Moreover, Mahamati, there are two kinds of self-existence. And what are they? Attachment to the self-existence of words and attachment to the self-existence of objects. Attachment to the self-existence of words comes from attachment to the habit-energy of word projections without beginning. Attachment to the self-existence of objects comes from not realizing that the distinctions that arise are perceptions of one’s own mind.
XL373
“Moreover, Mahamati, the tathagatas employ two kinds of powers374 for the support of bodhisattvas who come before them for instruction. And which two supporting powers? The power to appear in bodily form and speak to those in samadhi and the power to anoint their foreheads.375
“Mahamati, by relying on these powers of the buddhas, bodhisattvas at the initial bodhisattva stage enter what is known as the Light of the Mahayana Samadhi.376 Once they enter this samadhi, buddhas from worlds throughout the ten directions appear in bodily form and speak to them by means of these powers, as they did to Vajragarbha Bodhisattva377 and to other bodhisattvas of similar virtue and accomplishment.
“Mahamati, the power of the samadhi attained by these bodhisattvas at the initial bodhisattva stage is a result of the good roots they have cultivated and accumulated over the course of a hundred thousand kalpas. As they work their way through the easy and difficult378 aspects of th
e various stages, they finally reach the dharma cloud stage,379 where they dwell inside a magnificent lotus flower palace seated upon a jeweled lotus flower throne surrounded by a retinue of their fellow bodhisattvas adorned with necklaces of jewels that shine like the sun or moon or golden champaka flowers.380 The great victors of the ten directions then appear before their thrones in this lotus flower palace and anoint their foreheads, just as Shakra381 or a cakravartin might anoint the forehead of a crown prince.382 This is what is meant by the power to anoint the foreheads of bodhisattvas. Mahamati, this is what is meant by the two powers that support bodhisattvas. Bodhisattvas who rely on these two powers will meet the tathagatas. Otherwise, they will not.
“Moreover, Mahamati, all the special abilities of bodhisattvas regarding samadhi and teaching depend on these two powers of the tathagatas. Mahamati, if bodhisattvas could teach without the supporting powers of the tathagatas, fools could do so too. And why don’t they? Because they aren’t supported by these powers.
“Mahamati, when tathagatas enter a city, due to their great powers, music comes forth spontaneously from instruments as well as from hills and rocks and trees and from city walls and palaces, not to mention from sentient beings, as those who are deaf, blind, and mute are liberated from countless forms of suffering—such are the limitless powers of the tathagatas to help others.”
Mahamati then asked the Buddha, “Bhagavan, why do the tathagatas, the arhats, the fully enlightened ones bestow their powers of support when bodhisattvas are in samadhi and anoint their foreheads during the higher stages?”
