KING & PEOPLE PROTECT PRAJÑĀ PĀRAMITĀ SŪTRA
Chinese translation by: Tripiṭaka Master Śramaṇa Bukong
VOLUME ONE
Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION
Thus have I heard:
At one time, the Buddha was staying on Vulture Peak Mountain, in the city of Rājagṛha, together with one thousand eight hundred bhikṣus, all of whom were Arhats. They had completely extinguished all outflows, were free from afflictions, with minds completely liberated and wisdom completely liberated. They had attained the nine knowledges and ten knowledges, had accomplished what needed to be done, correctly contemplated the three falsely designated things as they truly are, contemplated the three gates of emptiness, and had perfected both conditioned merit and unconditioned merit.
There were also eight hundred bhikṣuṇīs, all of whom were Arhats. There were also immeasurable and innumerable Great Bodhisattvas who possessed equal and impartial true wisdom, had completely severed the affliction-obstruction, and through skillful means developed great vows and practices. They benefited sentient beings through the Four Means of Attraction, covered all beings with the Four Immeasurable Minds, fully understood the Three Knowledges, attained the Five Supernatural Powers, cultivated the boundless practices belonging to the Bodhi factors, possessed skillful arts surpassing the worldly realm, deeply entered dependent origination, Emptiness, Signlessness, and Wishlessness, entered and emerged from cessation concentration, manifested inconceivable transformations, subdued demonic enemies, understood both truths, and with the Dharma Eye perceived all the roots and origins of sentient beings. With the Four Fearlessnesses they expounded teachings without fear; with the Ten Powers of wondrous wisdom, their voices teaching the Dharma resounded like thunder; and they were close to the unsurpassed and equal Vajra Samādhi. All of them possessed such complete virtues.
There were also immeasurable assemblies of upāsakas and upāsikās, all of whom had seen the Noble Truths.
There were also immeasurable practitioners cultivating the Seven Worthy Practices, the Foundations of Mindfulness, Right Efforts, Spiritual Powers, Faculties, Powers, the Eight Liberations, the Ten Universal Bases, the Sixteen Mental Practices, and who were approaching direct realization of the Four Truths.
There were also sixteen great kings of great nations: King Prasenajit and others, each accompanied by countless thousands of myriads of followers and attendants.
There were also six heavenly kings of the Desire Realm: Śakra Devānām Indra and others, together with immeasurable heavenly sons and their attendants.
There were also four Pure Abodes among the Form Realm heavens: the Great Brahmā Kings and others, together with immeasurable heavenly sons and their attendants.
There were also immeasurable transformed beings from realms such as the Asuras and many other beings, with countless followers and attendants.
There were also a hundred billion lion thrones manifested throughout the pure realms of the ten directions. The Buddha sat upon these thrones and expounded the essence of the Dharma. Before each throne appeared a flower; these hundred billion flowers were adorned with precious jewels. Upon each flower were immeasurable transformation Buddhas, immeasurable Bodhisattvas, immeasurable members of the four assemblies, and the eight classes of beings. All the Buddhas within them expounded the Prajñāpāramitā, successively spreading it throughout the Ganges-sands-like Buddha lands of the ten directions.
All such great assemblies arrived, bowed with their heads at the Buddha’s feet, and then withdrew to sit to one side.
At that time, on the eighth day of the first month, the World-Honored One entered the great, peaceful, wondrous samādhi. From every pore of His body, great rays of light shone forth, illuminating the Buddha lands of the ten directions as numerous as the sands of the Ganges.
At that moment, immeasurable heavenly beings of the Desire Realm rained down various beautiful flowers. The heavenly beings of the Form Realm also rained heavenly flowers of many different colors, interwoven together, extremely beautiful to behold. The formless realm rained fragrant flowers, whose fragrance was like Mount Sumeru; the flowers were like wheels and like clouds descending, covering the great assembly and the Buddha, causing the world to tremble in six ways.
At that time, the assembly said to one another:
“Previously, the Great Enlightened World-Honored One taught us the Mahā Prajñāpāramitā, the Vajra Prajñāpāramitā, the Heavenly King’s Questions on Prajñāpāramitā, and countless immeasurable Prajñāpāramitā teachings of the Great Chapters. Today, why does the Tathāgata emit such great rays of light?”
At that time, King Prasenajit of the kingdom of Śrāvastī thought:
“Today the Buddha manifests such a rare sign. Surely there will be a rain of Dharma that will bring benefit, peace, and happiness to all.”
Then the king asked the upāsakas Jewel Canopy, Stainless Renown, and others; the great Śrāvakas Śāriputra, Subhūti, and others; and the great Bodhisattvas Maitreya, Lion’s Roar, and others:
“What auspicious sign does the Tathāgata’s manifestation represent?”
At that time, none among the great assembly could answer. Relying on the Buddha’s majestic spiritual power, King Prasenajit and others played magnificent music. The heavenly beings of the Desire Realm and Form Realm also performed countless heavenly instruments, and the sounds of music resounded throughout the entire great trichiliocosm.
At that time, the World-Honored One again emitted immeasurable and innumerable rays of light. These rays contained all kinds of mixed colors. Within each sphere of light appeared a precious lotus flower; each flower had a thousand petals made of pure gold, and upon each sat a transformation Buddha expounding the essence of the Dharma. The Buddha’s light illuminated Buddha lands throughout the ten directions as numerous as the sands of the Ganges, appearing in this way because of causes and conditions.
In the Buddha lands of other directions: in the East was the Great Bodhisattva Universal Light; in the Southeast was the Great Bodhisattva Lotus Hand; in the South was the Great Bodhisattva Free from Sorrow; in the Southwest was the Great Bodhisattva Radiant Light; in the West was the Great Bodhisattva Practice Wisdom; in the Northwest was the Great Bodhisattva Precious Victory; in the North was the Great Bodhisattva Victorious Reception; in the Northeast was the Great Bodhisattva Free from Dust; above was the Great Bodhisattva Joyful Reception; below was the Great Bodhisattva Lotus Victory.
Together with immeasurable hundreds of thousands of billions of Great Bodhisattvas, they all came here, bringing various fragrant incenses, scattering various flowers, and playing immeasurable music to make offerings to the Tathāgata. They bowed with their heads at His feet, then silently withdrew to one side, sitting with palms joined respectfully and single-mindedly gazing upon the Buddha.
Chapter 2: CONTEMPLATING THE TATHĀGATA
At that time, the World-Honored One emerged from samādhi, sat upon the lion throne, and taught the great assembly:
“I know that the sixteen great kings of nations are all thinking thus:
‘The World-Honored One of Great Compassion causes all beings to gain benefit, peace, and happiness. How should we kings protect and preserve our countries?’
Good sons, first, for the sake of the Great Bodhisattvas, I will explain the matter of protecting the fruit of Buddhahood and protecting the practices of the Ten Grounds. You must listen clearly, listen carefully, and remember correctly this matter.”
Having heard the Buddha say this, the entire assembly, King Prasenajit, and others all together praised:
“Excellent, excellent!”
Then they scattered countless precious, fragrant, and beautiful flowers. Those flowers transformed into jeweled canopies in the midst of the sky, covering the entire assembly and covering everywhere.
At that time, King Prasenajit rose, bowed with his head at the Buddha’s feet, joined his palms, knelt upright, and addressed the Buddha:
“World-Honored One! How does a Great Bodhisattva uphold the Buddha fruit? How does one uphold the practices of the Ten Grounds?”
The Buddha taught King Prasenajit:
“Upholding the Buddha fruit means that a Great Bodhisattva should abide in this way: teaching and transforming all beings born from eggs, from wombs, from moisture, and by transformation, without contemplating form characteristics, without contemplating form, just as with feeling, perception, formation, and consciousness. Self, person, permanence, bliss, self, purity, the Four Means of Embracing, the Six Perfections, the Two Truths, the Four Truths, the Powers, the Fearlessnesses… all practices, including Bodhisattvas and Tathāgatas, are likewise without contemplation of thought, without contemplation of Suchness. Why? Because the nature of all dharmas is true reality; it neither comes nor goes, neither arises nor ceases, is equal to ultimate reality, and the Dharma-nature has no two aspects and no distinction, like empty space. The characteristics of the aggregates, sense bases, and elements have no self and no belonging to self. This is how a Great Bodhisattva practices the Prajñāpāramitā.”
King Prasenajit said to the Buddha:
“World-Honored One! If the nature of Bodhisattvas and sentient beings is non-dual, then by what characteristics does a Bodhisattva teach and transform sentient beings?”
The Buddha taught:
“Great King! Form, feeling, perception, formation, and consciousness are permanence, bliss, self, and purity. The Dharma-nature does not abide in form, nor does it abide in non-form. Feeling, perception, formation, and consciousness are permanence, bliss, self, and purity; it does not abide in purity, nor does it abide in non-purity. Why? Because the nature of all dharmas is emptiness; they exist through conventional truth and through the three kinds of provisional designation. All sentient beings and the aggregates, sense bases, and elements of dharmas, acts of merit, acts that are not merit, unmoving practices, and so forth, exist through causes and conditions. Thus, the practices cultivated by the sages of the Three Vehicles up to the Buddha fruit are said to exist. The sixty-two views are also called existent.
Great King! If one clings to names and characteristics and discriminates among dharmas, the practices and results of the six realms, four kinds of birth, and three vehicles, then one does not see the true nature of all dharmas.”
King Prasenajit said to the Buddha:
“World-Honored One! The true nature of all dharmas is pure, equal, neither existent nor nonexistent. How then should the wisdom of contemplation observe it?”
The Buddha taught:
“Great King! The wisdom of contemplation observes the true nature as neither existent nor nonexistent. Why? Because the Dharma-nature is empty; that is, form, feeling, perception, formation, and consciousness, the twelve sense bases, the eighteen elements, the six realms of ordinary beings, the twelve links of dependent origination, the Two Truths, the Four Truths, and all dharmas are empty. These dharmas suddenly arise and suddenly cease, suddenly exist and suddenly do not exist; in every single moment they are likewise so. Why? Because within one thought there are ninety moments, and each moment undergoes nine hundred instances of arising and ceasing. Because all conditioned dharmas are empty. Through the profound Prajñāpāramitā one illuminates and sees that all dharmas are empty: inner emptiness, outer emptiness, inner-and-outer emptiness, emptiness of emptiness, great emptiness, ultimate emptiness, conditioned emptiness, unconditioned emptiness, beginningless emptiness, ultimate emptiness, dispersed emptiness, inherent emptiness, self-characteristic emptiness, emptiness of all dharmas, emptiness of Prajñāpāramitā, emptiness of persons, emptiness of the Buddha fruit, and emptiness of emptiness—therefore they are empty. Conditioned dharmas exist because of the gathering of dharmas, the gathering of feelings, the gathering of names, the gathering of causes, and the gathering of results; the six realms exist, the Ten Grounds exist, the Buddha fruit exists, and all exist.
Good man! If a Bodhisattva abides in the characteristics of dharmas and has characteristics of self, person, sentient being, or views and knowledge, then they abide in the world and are not a Bodhisattva. Why? Because all dharmas are empty. If, regarding all dharmas, one attains immovability, neither arising nor ceasing, without characteristics and without the characteristic of non-characteristic, then one should not give rise to views of attachment. Why? Because all dharmas are Suchness. The Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha are also Suchness. In the very first thought when sacred wisdom manifests, there are fully present the eighty-four thousand pāramitās. This is called the Ground of Joy, which purifies all obstructions and carries liberation; this is called the vehicle. When the characteristic of movement is extinguished, it is called the Vajra Concentration. When the characteristic of equality in reverence appears, it is called the wisdom of Omniscience.
Great King! The words and phrases of this Prajñāpāramitā have been spoken by hundreds of Buddhas, thousands of Buddhas, and hundreds of thousands of millions of Buddhas together. If someone were to take the seven treasures filling countless Ganges-sands of great thousand worlds and give them in charity, causing all sentient beings in those great thousand worlds to attain the fruit of Arhatship, it would still not equal someone who, regarding this sutra, even for a single thought, gives rise to pure faith—much less someone who receives, upholds, reads, recites, and understands even one sentence. Why? Because apart from the nature of written words, there is no characteristic of written words; it is neither dharma nor non-dharma. Because Prajñā is empty, the Bodhisattva is also empty. Why? Because within the Ten Grounds, each ground has the initial arising of birth, the present arising of birth, and until the ending of birth. Thus, the thirty kinds of birth are all empty. The wisdom of Omniscience is also empty.
Great King! If a Bodhisattva sees a realm, sees wisdom, sees speaking, or sees receiving and upholding, then that is not the seeing of a sage; it is the seeing of an ordinary being. The karmic rewards of sentient beings in the three realms are false. The karmic activities created through discrimination in the Desire Realm, the karmic activities created through the four meditative concentrations of the Form Realm, and the karmic activities created through the four formless concentrations of the Formless Realm—all karmic results of the three realms are empty. The fundamental ignorance of the three realms is also empty. The grounds of the sages and unconditioned arising and ceasing are empty. The habitual conditioning of other forms of ignorance, and the changing karmic results within the three realms, are also empty. The causes and results in the two instances of death of a Bodhisattva at the Equal Enlightenment stage who has attained Vajra Concentration are empty. All-knowing wisdom is also empty. The Unsurpassed, Perfectly Enlightened Buddha, all completely perfected wisdoms; discriminative and non-discriminative cessation, the truly pure Dharma realm, the equality of nature and characteristics, and responsive transformations are also empty.
Good man! If someone practices the Prajñāpāramitā, then the speaker and the listener are like a magician: there is no speaking and no listening. The Dharma is identical with Dharma-nature, like empty space. All are Suchness.
Great King! This is how a Great Bodhisattva upholds the Buddha fruit.”
At that time, the World-Honored One said to King Prasenajit:
“What characteristics do you use to contemplate the Tathāgata?”
King Prasenajit replied:
“I contemplate the true characteristics of the body; thus I contemplate the Buddha as well. There is no interval of before, no interval of after, and no interval in between. I do not abide in the three intervals, nor do I depart from the three intervals. I do not abide in the five aggregates, nor do I depart from the five aggregates. I do not abide in the four great elements, nor do I depart from the four great elements. I do not abide in the six sense bases, nor do I depart from the six sense bases. I do not abide in the three realms, nor do I depart from the three realms. I do not abide in directions, nor do I depart from directions.
Clarity and ignorance are equal; they are neither one nor different, neither this nor that, neither pure nor impure, neither conditioned nor unconditioned. There is no self-characteristic and no other-characteristic, no name, no characteristic, no strength, no weakness, no display, no explanation. It is neither generosity nor stinginess, neither maintaining precepts nor violating them, neither patience nor anger, neither diligence nor laziness, neither concentration nor distraction, neither wisdom nor ignorance, neither coming nor going, neither entering nor exiting, neither a field of merit nor not a field of merit, neither characteristic nor non-characteristic, neither grasping nor abandoning, neither great nor small, neither seeing nor hearing, neither knowing nor understanding. It extinguishes the activities of the mind and completely cuts off the paths of language. The Dharma-nature is identical with ultimate reality. I use such characteristics to contemplate the Tathāgata.”
The Buddha taught:
“Good man! Just as you have said, the Powers, Fearlessnesses, and countless Ganges-sands of merits, as well as the uncommon dharmas of all Buddhas and Tathāgatas, are all like this. Those who cultivate Prajñāpāramitā should contemplate in this way. If one contemplates otherwise, it is called wrong contemplation.”
When the Buddha spoke this Dharma, countless members of the great assembly attained the pure Dharma eye.
Chapter 3: THE BODHISATTVA PRACTICE
At that time, King Prasenajit said to the Buddha:
Venerable World-Honored One! How should a Great Bodhisattva who upholds and preserves the practices of the Ten Grounds cultivate the Way? How should they teach and transform sentient beings? And what characteristics should they use for contemplation?
The Buddha taught:
O great king! The Great Bodhisattvas rely upon the five kinds of patience to cultivate practice. They are: Subduing Patience, Faith Patience, Following Patience, Non-arising Patience, each of which has superior, middle, and inferior levels. As for Quiescent Patience, it has superior and inferior levels. This is called the Bodhisattva’s cultivation of Prajñā-pāramitā.
O good man! Upon first entering the Ground of Subduing Patience, one begins to cultivate the seeds of one’s lineage and practice the conduct of the Ten Abodes. At the stage of first arousing the mind, there are beings as numerous as the sands of the Ganges who, seeing the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha, give rise to the Ten Faiths: Faith Mind, Mindfulness Mind, Diligent Effort Mind, Wisdom Mind, Concentration Mind, Non-retreating Mind, Precept Mind, Vow Mind, Dharma-protection Mind, and Dedication-of-Merit Mind. If these ten minds are fully complete, one can teach and transform sentient beings to a small degree and surpass all virtuous grounds of the Two Vehicles. This is the Bodhisattva who has newly nurtured the mind, the embryo of a sage.
Furthermore, the Bodhisattva at the stage of Seed Nature cultivates the ten kinds of pāramitās and gives rise to ten kinds of antidotes. These mean contemplating that body, feeling, mind, and phenomena are impure, suffering, impermanent, and without self; counteracting the three unwholesome roots of greed, hatred, and delusion; giving rise to the three wholesome roots of generosity, compassion, and wisdom; contemplating the three patience factors: the causes of patience in the past, the causes and effects of patience in the present, and the effects of patience in the future. The Bodhisattva at this stage benefits sentient beings and surpasses all views of self, person, sentient being, and so forth; the inverted thoughts of external paths cannot harm them.
Furthermore, the Bodhisattva at the stage of Path Nature practices the Ten Dedications of Merit and gives rise to ten kinds of patience. By contemplating the five aggregates—form, feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness—they attain Precept Patience, Concentration Patience, Wisdom Patience, Liberation Patience, and Liberation-knowledge-and-vision Patience. By contemplating the causes and effects of the three realms, they attain Emptiness Patience, Signlessness Patience, and Wishlessness Patience. By contemplating the falsely real and truly real aspects of the two truths as impermanent, they attain Impermanence Patience. By contemplating all phenomena as empty, they attain Non-arising Patience. The Bodhisattva at this stage becomes a Wheel-turning King and has the ability to teach and transform universally, benefiting all sentient beings.
Furthermore, the Bodhisattva at the stage of Faith Patience, meaning the Ground of Joy, the Ground of Stainlessness, and the Ground of Radiance, can sever the three obstacles and the afflictions of form. They practice the four means of gathering: generosity, loving speech, beneficial action, and cooperation; cultivate the four immeasurable minds: immeasurable loving-kindness, immeasurable compassion, immeasurable joy, and immeasurable equanimity; fulfill the four great vows; eliminate the hindrances; constantly teach sentient beings; cultivate the Buddha’s knowledge and vision; realize unsurpassed enlightenment; and abide in the three gates of liberation: the Emptiness Liberation Gate, the Signlessness Liberation Gate, and the Wishlessness Liberation Gate. These are the fundamental practices of Great Bodhisattvas from the time they first arouse the mind until they attain omniscient wisdom, bringing benefit and peace to all sentient beings.
Furthermore, the Bodhisattva at the stage of Following Patience, meaning the Grounds of Blazing Wisdom, Difficult to Conquer, and Manifestation, can sever the three obstacles and the bonds of mental afflictions. With a single body they can travel throughout countless Buddha lands in the ten directions and manifest indescribable supernatural transformations in order to benefit and bring peace to sentient beings.
Furthermore, the Bodhisattva at the stage of Non-arising Patience, meaning the Grounds of Far-reaching Practice, Immovability, and Excellent Wisdom, can sever the three obstacles and the habitual tendencies of form and mind. They manifest countless bodies, adapting to each type of being, and benefit all sentient beings.
Furthermore, the Bodhisattva at the stage of Quiescent Patience: Buddhas and Bodhisattvas all rely upon this patience. With Vajra Concentration, if abiding in the inferior patience, one is called a Bodhisattva; if abiding in the superior patience, one is called omniscient wisdom. By contemplating the ultimate truth and severing the characteristics of ignorance, one is Equal Enlightenment. The one characteristic and no characteristic are equally without duality; this is the eleventh stage of omniscient wisdom, neither existent nor nonexistent, clear and pure, without coming or going, eternally abiding and unchanging, identical with the ultimate reality and equal with the Dharma-nature. Through unconditioned great compassion, one constantly teaches sentient beings, riding the vehicle of omniscient wisdom to liberate the three realms.
O good man! All afflictions of sentient beings, karmic results of maturation, and the twenty-two faculties do not extend beyond the three realms. The Buddhas teach and guide beings through manifestations, and even the Dharma Body does not lie outside these realms. If one says that beyond the three realms there exists another realm of sentient beings, that is the Great Existence teaching of external paths.
O great king! I have always taught sentient beings that when they completely cut off birth and death and ignorance within the three realms, that itself is Buddhahood. The intrinsically pure nature is called the original enlightened nature, which is the omniscient wisdom of all Buddhas. Through it one attains realization; it is the fundamental basis possessed by sentient beings, and it is also the original practice of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. This is the cultivation of the Bodhisattva—the fourteen kinds of patience within the five Dharma patiences.
The Buddha taught:
O great king! Earlier you asked how Bodhisattvas teach and transform sentient beings. Great Bodhisattvas should teach as follows: From the first ground to the final ground, they must understand all their own actions and all the actions of the Buddha.
A Great Bodhisattva may abide in a hundred Buddha lands and become a Wheel-turning Sage King in Jambudvīpa, cultivating and fully understanding a hundred Dharma gates, using the Pāramitā of Generosity and abiding in an equal mind to teach and transform sentient beings throughout the four continents.
Or a Great Bodhisattva may abide in a thousand Buddha lands, become a king in the Heaven of Thirty-three (Trāyastriṃśa), cultivate and fully understand a thousand Dharma illumination gates, teach the ten wholesome paths, and liberate all sentient beings.
Or a Great Bodhisattva may abide in ten thousand Buddha lands, become a Heavenly King in the Yāma Heaven, cultivate and fully understand ten thousand Dharma gates, rely on the four meditative absorptions, and teach all sentient beings.
Or a Great Bodhisattva may abide in a hundred million Buddha lands, become a Heavenly King in the Tuṣita Heaven, cultivate and fully understand a hundred million Dharma gates, practice the factors of enlightenment, and teach all sentient beings.
Or a Great Bodhisattva may abide in a hundred billion Buddha lands, become a Heavenly King in the Transformation Bliss Heaven, cultivate and fully understand a hundred billion Dharma gates, and use the Two Truths and the Four Truths to teach sentient beings.
Or a Great Bodhisattva may abide in a thousand billion Buddha lands, become a Heavenly King in the Heaven of Freely Enjoying Transformations by Others, cultivate and fully understand a thousand billion Dharma gates, and use wisdom that realizes the twelve links of dependent origination to teach all sentient beings.
Or a Great Bodhisattva may abide in ten thousand billion Buddha lands, become a Brahma King in the First Dhyāna Heaven, cultivate and fully understand ten thousand billion Dharma gates, and use skillful means wisdom to teach all sentient beings.
Or a Great Bodhisattva may abide in a hundred thousand billion Buddha lands, as numerous as dust particles, become a Brahma King in the Second Dhyāna Heaven, cultivate and fully understand a hundred thousand billion dust-particle-numbered Dharma gates of simultaneous and equal illumination, and use vow wisdom and miraculous powers to teach all sentient beings.
Or a Great Bodhisattva may abide in a hundred thousand billion immeasurable eons of Buddha lands, as numerous as dust particles, become a Brahma King in the Third Dhyāna Heaven, cultivate and fully understand a hundred thousand billion immeasurable Dharma gates, and use the wisdom of the four unobstructed knowledges to teach all sentient beings.
Or a Great Bodhisattva may abide in Buddha lands too numerous to speak or describe, become a Great Brahma Heavenly King in the Fourth Dhyāna Heaven, cultivate and fully understand Dharma gates too numerous to speak or describe, attain the Samādhi of Exhausting Principle, identical with the sphere of the Buddha’s practice, completely understand the origin of the three realms, and benefit all sentient beings just as the Buddha’s realm does. This is how Great Bodhisattvas manifest the bodies of kings in order to teach and guide sentient beings.
The Thus-Come Ones of the ten directions are likewise so; having attained unsurpassed enlightenment, they constantly abide throughout the entire Dharma realm to bring benefit and joy to sentient beings.
At that time, the entire great assembly arose, scattered flowers beyond measure, burned incense beyond calculation, and made offerings, respectfully honoring and praising the Thus-Come One.
Then, before the Buddha, King Prasenajit spoke verses of praise:
The Vajra-bodied World-Honored Teacher,
Turning the Dharma wheel of the mind’s quiescence,
Teaching through the eight kinds of perfect voices,
Those who attained the Way number hundreds of thousands of billions.
Heavenly beings and humans all cultivate the practice of liberation,
Cultivating all the paths of the Bodhisattva;
The wondrous Dharma of the five patience gates of merit,
Because of the fourteen, Bodhisattvas understand clearly.
Practicing within the patience of the Three Worthies and Ten Saints,
Only the Buddha fully comprehends the source and root.
The ocean of Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha, the treasury of the Three Jewels,
Contains within it limitless merits and virtues.
Bodhisattvas of the ten wholesome deeds give rise to great resolve,
Always remaining within the ocean of samsara of the three realms.
Those of middle and lower goodness become minor kings,
Those of superior goodness become Iron Wheel Kings.
The Habitual Seed of the Copper Wheel, ruling two continents;
The Nature Seed of the Silver Wheel, encompassing three;
The Path Seed with firm virtue becomes a Wheel-Turning King,
With seven treasures, the Golden Wheel, ruling the four continents.
The Patience of Submission, the sacred embryo of thirty positions:
The Ten Abodes, Ten Practices, and Ten Dedications,
Are the Dharma that Buddhas of the three times study;
All arise through this Patience of Submission.
It is the foundation of all Bodhisattva practices,
Therefore it is difficult to arouse aspiration and faith.
Once faith is attained, one will never regress,
Entering the First Ground of non-arising.
Benefiting self and others equally,
Therefore one is called a newly awakened Bodhisattva.
The Bodhisattva of Joy: the Wheel-Turning King,
Illuminating the principle of equality of the Two Truths.
Arriving in a hundred realms to teach sentient beings,
Practicing pure giving to benefit the multitude;
Entering the principle of Prajñā is abiding,
Abiding in the arising of virtuous conduct is called a Ground.
The First Abode, with single-mindedness, possesses all virtues,
Remaining unmoved within ultimate meaning.
The Bodhisattva Free from Defilement: King of the Thirty-Three Heavens,
Manifesting bodies in a thousand realms throughout the six destinies.
Maintaining pure precepts, complete and perfect,
Completely ending all faults and offenses previously committed.
Without marks, without conditions, the true nature is real;
Without substance, without arising, without illuminating the two.
The Bodhisattva Radiant: King of the Yāma Heaven,
Manifesting bodies and traveling to ten thousand Buddha realms.
Completely penetrating samādhi,
Appearing and disappearing freely, possessing the three kinds of wisdom.
Joy, Free from Defilement, and Radiant,
Destroying the bonds of form and afflictions;
Contemplating completely all karma of body and speech,
The pure Dharma-nature shines perfectly complete.
The Bodhisattva Flame Wisdom is exceedingly diligent,
The Tusita Heaven King journeys through billions of realms.
True wisdom of quiescence, skillful means wisdom,
Attaining the principle of non-arising, illuminating emptiness and existence.
The Bodhisattva Difficult to Overcome: King of the Transformation Bliss Heaven,
Attaining equality and traveling through hundreds of billions of realms.
Emptiness, the truth of emptiness, contemplating the non-dual nature,
Manifesting bodies throughout all six realms.
The Bodhisattva Manifesting Before: King of Sovereignty,
Clearly seeing the aspect of dependent origination as one.
The supreme meaning wisdom shines everywhere,
Going to liberate sentient beings in thousands of billions of realms.
The Grounds of Flame Wisdom, Difficult to Overcome, and Manifesting Before,
Cutting off the three obstacles of deluded mind;
The wisdom of emptiness, silent and without conditions,
Reflecting back upon the empty mind and limitless realms.
The Bodhisattva Far-Going: King of the First Meditation Heaven,
Abiding in the patience of non-arising and non-form;
All skillful means and wisdom are equal,
Going to ten thousand billion realms to liberate sentient beings.
Entering the Dharma-flow Ground, unmoving,
No longer subject to partial divisions, transcending all existences;
Always contemplating ultimate meaning, clearly knowing non-duality;
The twenty-one practices are empty and still.
The Great Being Far-Going follows the path of Dharma,
Only cutting off habitual attachment and ignorance.
The Bodhisattva Immovable: King of the Second Meditation Heaven,
Obtaining a transformed body that is always free.
Traveling to hundreds of thousands of countless dust-like realms,
Transforming according to various kinds to liberate sentient beings;
Clearly knowing the immeasurable kalpas of the three times,
Unmoving in the First Principle.
The Bodhisattva Excellent Wisdom: King of the Third Meditation Heaven,
Manifesting the fruition of thousands of billions of realms at once;
Always practicing emptiness and quiescence within the unconditioned,
In one thought understanding the treasury of Buddhas as numerous as the sands of the Ganges.
The Bodhisattva Dharma Cloud: King of the Fourth Meditation Heaven,
Liberating sentient beings in billions of Ganges-sand realms;
Upon first entering Vajra, knowing all things,
Already transcending the twenty-nine realms.
Within the Patience of Quiescent Extinction, without contemplating patience,
Immediately transforms into the Wondrous Enlightenment, unequaled and equal;
The Grounds of Immovable, Excellent Wisdom, and Dharma Cloud,
Eliminate the remaining habits of ignorance from before.
The habitual ignorance, consciousness, and transformation,
The principles of the Two Truths are completely understood;
Perfect enlightenment clearly manifests throughout the Dharma realm,
The wisdom of thirty births is fully and brilliantly complete.
Silent illumination, unconditioned true liberation,
Great Compassion manifests responsively, unequaled by any;
Clear, pure, unmoving, always peaceful and secure,
Its radiance shines everywhere without obstruction.
The Three Worthies and Ten Saints still possess karmic results,
Only the Buddha alone dwells in the pure realm.
All sentient beings temporarily abide within existence,
Realizing Vajra, originally unmoving.
The three karmas of the Tathāgata possess limitless virtues,
Equally cherishing all sentient beings with compassion.
The unsurpassed Dharma King among humans,
A boundless radiance covering the great assembly.
Always teaching the Dharma according to its true meaning,
The quiescent wisdom-mind clearly understands non-condition.
The lion among humans gives teachings,
With profound meanings and unprecedented words.
Causing all dust-like realms to tremble,
The great assembly rejoices and receives benefit.
The World-Honored One teaches the fourteen kings;
Now I bow my head and respectfully pay homage.
At that time, having heard the World-Honored One, the Buddha, and King Prasenajit speak of the immeasurable merits of the fourteen kinds of patience, the assembly of hundreds of thousands of billions of Ganges-sand-like beings attained great benefit from the Dharma and, through hearing the Dharma, became awakened and attained the Patience of Non-arising Dharma.
Then the World-Honored One taught the assembly:
“This King Prasenajit, in the past, having passed through ten thousand kalpas, was a Bodhisattva at the Fourth Ground within the Dharma of the Buddha Long Light King. I was then a Bodhisattva at the Eighth Ground. Today, before me, he has uttered the great lion’s roar of a teacher. Indeed, indeed! Just as you have said, he has attained the true meaning, the inconceivable meaning. Only Buddha and Buddha can know this.
“Good man! These fourteen kinds of patience, the Dharmakāyas of all Buddhas, and the practices of Bodhisattvas are inconceivable and cannot be calculated. Why? Because all Buddhas are born from Prajñāpāramitā, are transformed from Prajñāpāramitā, and are extinguished from Prajñāpāramitā. Yet in truth, Buddhas are born without a place of birth, transformed without a place of transformation, extinguished without a place of extinction. They are the First Principle, without a second; neither with marks nor without marks; without self and without other; neither coming nor going, because they are like empty space.
“Good man! The nature of all sentient beings has no arising or ceasing. Through the gathering of various dharmas and their illusory transformations, the appearances of the aggregates, sense-fields, and elements arise. They neither unite nor disperse. Dharma is identical with Dharma-nature because it is quiescent emptiness. The self-nature of all sentient beings is pure. The actions they create neither bind nor liberate; they are neither cause nor effect, nor are they without cause and effect. The experiences of suffering through actions arise from the awareness of afflictions. The marks of self, the marks of person, knowing and seeing, and the experiencer—all are empty. Therefore, the realm of Dharma is empty. It is empty, signless, and without activity; it does not conform to inversion, does not conform to illusion, has no marks of the six realms, no marks of the four kinds of birth, no marks of the noble stages, and no marks of the Three Jewels, because it is like empty space.
“Good man! Deep Prajñā does not know, does not see, does not practice, does not depend on conditions, does not abandon, and does not receive. It correctly abides in contemplation, yet has no mark of illumination. Whoever practices the path in this way is like empty space. Thus, regarding the marks of dharmas, whether the mind has something to attain or the mind has nothing to attain, neither can be grasped. Therefore, Prajñā is neither the five aggregates nor separate from the five aggregates; neither sentient beings nor separate from sentient beings; neither the realm of experience nor separate from the realm of experience; neither the practice of understanding nor separate from the practice of understanding. Such marks cannot be conceived or measured. Therefore, all practices cultivated by Bodhisattvas have not yet reached completion, yet there is still practice within them. All Buddhas know them as illusory transformations. Although they attain the mark of non-abiding, they still manifest transformations within it. Therefore, the fourteen kinds of patience cannot be conceived or measured.
“Good man! Today you have spoken of this treasury of merit, which brings great benefit to all sentient beings. Even if immeasurable numbers of Bodhisattvas equal to the sands of the Ganges in the Ten Grounds were to speak of these merits for hundreds of thousands of billions of parts, it would be like a single drop of water in the ocean. The Buddhas of the three times know this in accordance with reality, and all sages praise it. Therefore, I shall now briefly speak of a small portion of these merits.
“Good man! These fourteen kinds of patience are cultivated by all Bodhisattvas of the past and present throughout the ten directions. All Buddhas reveal them, and future generations of Great Bodhisattvas will do likewise. If Buddhas and Bodhisattvas did not rely on this gate to attain the wisdom of Omniscience, such a thing would be impossible. Why? Because Buddhas and Bodhisattvas have no other path.
“Good man! If someone hears of Abiding Patience, Practice Patience, Dedication Patience, Joyful Patience, Stainless Patience, Radiant Patience, Flaming Wisdom Patience, Difficult-to-Conquer Patience, Present Patience, Far-Reaching Patience, Immovable Patience, Excellent Wisdom Patience, Dharma Cloud Patience, and Right Enlightenment Patience, and in a single thought gives rise to pure faith, that person will transcend all suffering and difficulties throughout hundreds of kalpas, thousands of kalpas, and immeasurable, boundless Ganges-sand-like kalpas; they will not be born into evil realms and will soon attain unsurpassed Bodhi.
“At that time, ten billion Great Bodhisattvas, all sharing the name Empty Space Treasury, together with immeasurable and countless assemblies who had come from other places, rejoiced. Through the Buddha’s spiritual power, they saw Ganges-sand-like Buddhas in the ten directions. Those Buddhas were all in their bodhimaṇḍas teaching the fourteen kinds of patience exactly as the World-Honored One had taught. All greatly rejoiced and, according to the teaching, cultivated Prajñāpāramitā.
At that time, the World-Honored One said to King Prasenajit:
“Previously, Great King, you asked by what marks one should abide in contemplation. A Great Bodhisattva should contemplate in this way: Using the illusory body, one sees illusory transformations, abiding in true and equal purity, without any longer having the notions of self and other. One contemplates in this way in order to teach and benefit sentient beings. However, throughout the long ages, in the very first moment of sentient beings’ existence, consciousness differs from wood and stone. Arising with defilement and purity, it creates itself. Immeasurable and countless consciousnesses inherently possessing defilement and purity exist from the first moment through many immeasurable kalpas until reaching the vajra moment, which is the final moment. There are countless consciousnesses, impossible to describe or portray. When sentient beings arise, they possess two dharmas: form and mind. Form is the form aggregate; mind is the four aggregates. All are of the nature of accumulation and conceal the truth.
“Great King! This single form dharma gives rise to immeasurable forms. The eye combines with forms, the ear combines with sounds, the nose combines with smells, the tongue combines with tastes, and the body combines with touch. Solidity is called earth; moisture is called water; the nature of heat and warmth is called fire; light movement is called wind. The places where the five consciousnesses arise are called the five form faculties. Thus, one mind and one form in succession produce immeasurable arising forms and minds beyond calculation, yet all are like illusions.
“Good man! The experiences received by sentient beings are established from the perspective of conventional truth. Whether they exist or not, they arise from the deluded thoughts of sentient beings. They remember, create karma, and receive results—all are called worldly truth. All sentient beings in the six realms and three worlds, Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, Shudras, self, person, knowing and seeing, form dharmas, and mind dharmas are like objects seen in a dream.
“Good man! All names are merely provisionally established. Before the Buddha appeared in the world, the illusory worldly truth had no name, no meaning, and no substance or marks. There were no names for the three realms, no names for the six paths, and no names for wholesome and unwholesome karmic results. When Buddhas appear in the world, for the sake of sentient beings they teach immeasurable terms concerning the three realms, the six paths, defilement, and purity. Thus, all are like echoes. The continuity of dharmas does not stop from moment to moment; each moment… each moment is neither the same nor different. As soon as it arises, it immediately ceases. It is neither annihilation nor permanence, because conditioned dharmas are like mirages in sunlight. The mutually dependent dharmas are called the form realm, eye realm, eye-consciousness realm, and so forth up to the Dharma realm, mind realm, and mind-consciousness realm. They are like flashes of lightning, uncertain, mutually dependent, existing and non-existing, one and different, like a second moon. All dharmas arise through causes and conditions. The aggregates, sense-fields, and elements are like bubbles on water; all dharmas arise through causes and conditions. All simultaneous causes and effects, and causes and effects occurring at different times, of sentient beings and the wholesome and unwholesome of the three times, are like clouds in empty space.
“Good man! A Great Bodhisattva abides in non-discrimination, no longer having the marks of this and that, without the marks of self and other, always practicing the mark of benefit. Therefore, know that foolish ordinary beings, with defiled consciousness, cling to illusion and falsehood and are bound by marks. Bodhisattvas see and know them as a magician’s creation, without substantial marks, merely like flowers appearing in empty space. This is how Great Bodhisattvas live for their own benefit and the benefit of others, contemplating according to reality.”
When the Buddha spoke this Dharma, within the assembly there were immeasurable numbers of gods and humans who attained Non-retrogressive Patience, Non-arising Patience, the First Ground, the Second Ground, and up to the Tenth Ground. Immeasurable Bodhisattvas attained the state of One More Birth Before Buddhahood.
Chapter 4: THE TWO TRUTHS
At that time, King Prasenajit said to the Buddha:
O World-Honored One! Within the Supreme Truth, is there the Conventional Truth? If one says there is not, then that wisdom is not two. But if one says there is, then that wisdom is not one. What is the meaning of one and two in this matter?
The Buddha taught:
Great King! In the teaching of Buddha Long Quang Vương in the past, you asked this very meaning. Now if I do not speak, Great King, you will not hear. Therefore, not speaking and not hearing is itself the meaning of one and two. Listen carefully, for I shall explain it.
Then the World-Honored One spoke verses:
The Supreme Truth has no marks,
Its essence is not made by self or other.
Through causes and conditions it exists like an illusion,
Yet it is not made by self or other.
The nature of all dharmas is originally without nature;
The Supreme Truth is not as it appears.
When there is a dharma, there is an illusion;
The three kinds of false designation combine and arise.
Emptiness, the true emptiness, is not truly empty;
The quiescent Supreme Truth is empty.
All dharmas arise through conditions;
Such is the meaning of existence and non-existence.
Existence and non-existence are originally two,
Like an ox having two horns.
When understood clearly, they are seen as non-dual.
The two truths are always thus empty;
The mind understands and sees no two.
Seeking two, it cannot be attained.
One should not say that two is one.
One also cannot be attained;
Understanding clearly, it is always one.
With the truths always being two,
Penetrate this one and two.
Enter into the Supreme Truth;
The Conventional Truth arises through illusion.
Like flowers in empty space,
Like reflections and magical circles,
Through conditions, illusion arises.
Illusions perceive illusions;
The ignorant call illusion real.
The illusory mind sees illusory dharmas;
Both true and illusory are nonexistent.
If one understands dharmas in this way,
One understands the meaning of one and two.
With regard to all dharmas,
One should contemplate in this manner.
Great King! The Great Bodhisattva abides in the Supreme Truth in order to teach and transform sentient beings. Sentient beings and the Buddha are one and non-dual. Why? Because sentient beings and Bodhi are both empty. Because sentient beings are empty, the attainment of Bodhi is also empty. Because Bodhi is empty, sentient beings are empty. Because all dharmas are empty, emptiness itself is empty. Why? Because Prajñā is without marks, and both truths are empty. This means that from ignorance up to Omniscient Wisdom, there is no mark of self and no mark of other. Regarding the First Meaning, one sees no place of seeing. If there is cultivation, one does not cling; if there is no cultivation, one also does not cling. Neither cultivating nor not cultivating is something to cling to. Regarding all dharmas, there is no attachment.
Before a Bodhisattva becomes a Buddha, Bodhi is regarded as affliction. When a Bodhisattva becomes a Buddha, afflictions are Bodhi. Why? Because in the First Meaning there are no two. All Buddhas, Tathāgatas, and all dharmas are likewise so.
King Pasenadi said to the Buddha:
Why do all Buddhas and all Bodhisattvas of the ten directions not abandon written words in order to practice true reality?
The Buddha taught:
Great King! Written words refer to Sūtras, Geya (repeated verses), Vyākaraṇa (prophecies and explanations), Gāthā (verses), Udāna (inspired utterances), Nidāna (causal origins), Avadāna (parables), Itivṛttaka (accounts of former events), Jātaka (stories of former births), Vaipulya (expanded teachings), Adbhuta-dharma (wondrous teachings), and Upadeśa (discourses). All chapters, phrases, written words, speech, and sounds spoken from these scriptures are Thusness; they are not unreal. If one grasps the marks of written words, then those are the marks of unreality.
Great King! A person who practices true reality practices it through written words. True reality is the mother of the wisdom of all Buddhas, the fundamental mother of wisdom for all sentient beings. Thus it is called the essence of Omniscient Wisdom. Buddhas before attaining Buddhahood and present Buddhas are the mother of wisdom. Buddhas who have attained Buddhahood are Omniscient Wisdom. Before attainment it is nature; after attainment it is wisdom. The Prajñā of the three vehicles neither arises nor ceases; its own nature is eternally abiding. This is the awakened nature of all sentient beings.
If a Bodhisattva does not cling to written words, does not depart from written words, has no mark of written words, and is not without written words, and can cultivate in this way without seeing the mark of cultivation, then that person is called one who practices through written words and can attain the true nature of Prajñā. This is Prajñā-pāramitā.
Great King! The Great Bodhisattva protects the fruit of Buddhahood, protects the practices of the Ten Grounds, and protects the teaching and transformation of sentient beings in this way.
King Pasenadi said to the Buddha:
The true nature is one, but the faculties, practices, and categories of sentient beings are countless. Then is the Dharma gate one or countless?
The Buddha taught:
Great King! The Dharma gate is neither one nor countless. Why? Because form dharmas and mind dharmas, the marks of the five aggregates subject to grasping, and the views of self and person among sentient beings have many different faculties and practices and limitless categories. The Dharma gates, according to their faculties and practices, are also countless. The nature of these dharmas is neither marked, nor without marks, nor countless. If a Bodhisattva sees one or sees two according to sentient beings, then that is not seeing the meaning of one and two. If one understands clearly that one and two are neither one nor two, that is the Supreme Truth. If one clings to one and two as existing or nonexistent, that is the Conventional Truth. Therefore, the Dharma gate is neither one nor two.
Great King! All Buddhas expound Prajñā-pāramitā, and today I expound Prajñā-pāramitā; there is no two and no difference. All of you should receive, uphold, read, recite, and practice according to the teaching. This is receiving and upholding the Dharma of all Buddhas.
Great King! This Prajñā-pāramitā possesses immeasurable merits. If there were as many Buddhas as the sands of the Ganges, countless and indescribable, and each Buddha taught countless and indescribable sentient beings, and all those sentient beings attained Buddhahood, and those Buddhas again taught countless and indescribable sentient beings who also all became Buddhas, then the Prajñā-pāramitā taught by those Buddhas would contain countless, indescribable trillions of verses, spoken without end.
Among those verses, if one verse were divided into a thousand parts, and within those thousand parts only one part were spoken, the merit and meaning contained in that one phrase would still be inexhaustible, not to mention the merit and meaning of countless phrases such as these. If there is anyone who, regarding this scripture, gives rise to even a single pure thought of faith, that person immediately transcends the suffering and difficulties of birth and death throughout hundreds of lifetimes, thousands of lifetimes, hundreds of thousands of millions of lifetimes. How much more so for one who copies, upholds, reads, recites, and explains it to others—the merit attained is equal to that of all Buddhas throughout the ten directions, without difference. Know that this person is protected and remembered by the Buddhas, and before long will attain unsurpassed Bodhi.
When the Buddha spoke this Dharma, ten billion people attained the patience of the Three Emptinesses, one hundred thousand billion people attained the Great Patience of Emptiness, and immeasurable Bodhisattvas attained abiding in the Ten Grounds.
KING HUMANE KING PROTECTING THE NATION PRAJÑĀPĀRAMITĀ
VOLUME TWO
At that time, the World-Honored One said to the great kings, King Prasenajit: “Listen clearly and carefully. For your sake, I will speak the Dharma of protecting the nation. If any countries are about to be disturbed by rebellion, suffer calamities, or be destroyed by invading bandits, you should uphold, recite, and chant this Prajñāpāramitā. Adorn the Dharma assembly hall, enshrine one hundred Buddha images, one hundred Bodhisattva images, and one hundred lion seats, and invite one hundred Dharma masters to expound this sutra. Before each seat, light various kinds of lamps, burn various kinds of fragrant incense, scatter various kinds of flowers, and make abundant offerings of clothing, bedding, food and drink, medicine, houses, beds, seats, and all kinds of offerings. Each day, at the two daily sessions, explain and recite this sutra. If kings, great ministers, monks, nuns, male lay disciples, and female lay disciples hear, receive, recite, chant, and practice according to the Dharma, then calamities will immediately be eliminated.
Within the lands of the great kings, there are countless spirits and deities, and each spirit and deity has countless retinues. If they hear this sutra, they will protect the countries of these kings. When a nation is about to become chaotic, the spirits and deities become chaotic first. Because the spirits and deities become chaotic, countless people become chaotic, and bandits arise, causing the people to lose their lives. The king, crown prince, princes, and officials oppose one another; heaven and earth undergo strange transformations; the sun, moon, and stars move improperly, at irregular times and without measure. There may be great fires, great floods, great winds, and so forth. When such calamities occur, one should uphold and expound this Prajñāpāramitā. If one upholds, recites, and chants this sutra, then all wishes, such as official position, wealth and honor, children, wisdom, and freedom of coming and going as one wishes, together with the rewards of heavenly and human realms, will all be fulfilled. Illnesses and hardships will be eliminated; shackles and chains binding the body will be removed; countless faults—including breaking the four grave precepts, committing the five rebellious offenses, and slandering the precepts—will all be eradicated.
Great King! In the distant past, Śakra, Lord of the Thirty-Three, became King Dingsheng and led the four divisions of the army to the heavens, intending to destroy Indra. At that time, the Heavenly King relied upon the teachings of the Buddhas of the past, established one hundred high seats, and invited one hundred Dharma masters to expound the Prajñāpāramitā. King Dingsheng then withdrew, and the heavenly beings became peaceful and joyful.
Great King! Long ago, there was a crown prince in the country of Tianluo named Banzu. When the crown prince ascended the throne, there was a non-Buddhist teacher named Shanshi who performed the consecration ceremony for the king. He told Banzu to take one thousand heads of kings and place them in a charnel ground as an offering to the heavenly deity Mahākāla, the Great Black One. Since ascending the throne, King Banzu had obtained nine hundred and ninety-nine heads of kings; he was only missing one more.
Banzu traveled northward ten thousand miles and encountered a king named Puming. King Puming said to Banzu:
“Please allow me one day to pay respects to the Three Jewels and make offerings of food and drink to the Śramaṇas.”
Hearing this, Banzu agreed. King Puming relied upon the Dharma teachings spoken by the Buddhas of the past, spread out one hundred high seats, invited one hundred Dharma masters, and each day, during the two sessions, they expounded the eight hundred billion verses of the Prajñāpāramitā.
At that time, among those Dharma masters, the foremost Dharma master spoke a verse for the sake of King Puming:
The fire of kalpa rises
Thousands all are destroyed
Mount Sumeru, the great seas
Shatter into nothingness
Brahma, Śakra, Heaven, Dragons
All sentient beings
Must still be annihilated
How much more this body
Birth, aging, sickness, death
Worries, sorrows, afflictions
Hatred and attachment oppress
Contrary to wishes
Craving and desire bind
Creating one’s own tumors
The three realms are not at peace
What joy can there be in existence?
Conditioned things are not real
Born from causes and conditions
Flourishing and decline flash by
Temporarily existing, then gone
The realms where beings are born
Appear according to karmic conditions
Like shadows, like echoes
All are empty
Consciousness flows according to karma
Relying on the four elements to form
The bonds of craving and ignorance
Give rise to “I” and “mine”
Consciousness turns according to karma
The body then has no owner
Therefore know that the world
Is merely an illusion as well.
After the Dharma Master finished speaking this verse, King Phổ Minh, having heard the Dharma, attained awakening and realized the Empty Samadhi; the retinues of the kings attained the Dharma Eye of emptiness. King Phổ Minh immediately went to the country of Thiên La; among the kings, King Phổ Minh said:
Now, noble kings, as you are about to pass away, you should recite and uphold the Prajñāpāramitā verses that the Buddhas of the past have spoken.
Hearing this, all the kings attained awakening and realized the Empty Samadhi. They all recited, chanted, received, and upheld it.
At that time, King Ban Túc asked the kings: What Dharma are you reciting today?
King Phổ Minh immediately answered King Ban Túc with the verse from before. Hearing this Dharma, King Ban Túc also attained the Empty Concentration and became joyful and delighted, then said to the kings:
I was deluded by a false teacher of an outside path; that was not your fault. You should return to your countries and invite the Dharma Master to explain the Prajñāpāramitā.
At that time, King Ban Túc handed the kingdom over to his younger brother, then renounced worldly life and studied the Way, attaining the Patience of the Non-arising of Dharmas.
O great king! In the past, there were five thousand kings who always recited this sutra; in their present lives, they attained the fruits of blessings. The sixteen great kings, as you cultivate the Dharma of protecting the nation, should likewise receive, uphold, recite, chant, and explain this sutra. The kings of future generations, wishing to protect their countries and preserve themselves, should also receive, uphold, recite, chant, and expound this sutra in this way.
When the Buddha spoke this Dharma, countless people attained the irreversible stage, the asuras were reborn in the heavens, and limitless, innumerable gods of the Desire Realm and Form Realm attained the Patience of Non-arising.
Chapter 6: INCONCEIVABLE
At that time, the sixteen kings and the great assembly, having heard the Buddha explain the profound meanings of the Prajñāpāramitā, rejoiced greatly and scattered hundreds of thousands of billions of jeweled lotus flowers. In the midst of the sky, those flowers gathered together into a jeweled flower throne. The Buddhas and countless great assemblies of the ten directions all sat upon that throne and spoke the Prajñāpāramitā.
Those great assemblies scattered ten thousand pure golden lotus flowers upon Śākyamuni Buddha; they then gathered together into a garland that covered the great assembly.
They also scattered eighty-four thousand white lotus flowers (Puṇḍarīka flowers), which gathered in the sky and formed a white cloud platform. Within the platform, King Buddha Quang Minh Vương and the countless assemblies of the Buddhas of the ten directions expounded the Prajñāpāramitā. Those assemblies scattered Mandārava flowers as offerings to Śākyamuni Buddha and the congregations. They again scattered Mañjūṣaka flowers in the sky, forming a vajra jewel city. Within that city, Buddha Lion’s Vigor King, together with the Buddhas and great Bodhisattvas of the ten directions, expounded the supreme meaning of the Prajñāpāramitā. They again scattered countless kinds of heavenly flowers, which transformed in the sky into a jeweled cloud canopy covering the entire trichiliocosm. Within that flower canopy, from the sky, flowers as numerous as the sands of the Ganges River rained down.
At that time, King Pasenadi and the great assembly witnessed this unprecedented event, praised it with wonder, and then with palms joined facing the Buddha said:
May the Buddhas of the past, present, and future always speak the Prajñāpāramitā. May all sentient beings always be able to see and hear it just as I do today, without difference.
The Buddha taught:
Just as the great king has said, this Prajñāpāramitā is the mother of all Buddhas, the mother of all Bodhisattvas, and the sole source from which meritorious virtues and spiritual powers arise. The Buddhas together speak of it, and it always brings many benefits. Therefore, you should always receive and uphold it.
At that time, for the sake of the great assembly, the World-Honored One manifested inconceivable supernatural transformations: one flower entered into countless flowers, countless flowers entered into one flower; one Buddha land entered into countless Buddha lands, countless Buddha lands entered into one Buddha land. One particle of a land entered into countless particles of lands, countless particles of lands entered into one particle of a land; countless oceans entered into one pore, countless Mount Sumerus entered into a mustard seed; one Buddha body entered into countless bodies of sentient beings, countless bodies of sentient beings entered into one Buddha body. The great appeared as small, the small appeared as great, the pure appeared as impure, the impure appeared as pure. The Buddha body was inconceivable, the bodies of sentient beings were inconceivable, and even the worlds were inconceivable.
While the Buddha was displaying these miraculous transformations, ten thousand women transformed their bodies into male forms and attained the supernatural power samadhi; countless gods and humans attained the Patience of Non-arising of Dharmas; countless asuras attained the Bodhisattva path; and Bodhisattvas as numerous as the sands of the Ganges manifested bodies and became Buddhas.
Chapter 7: UPHOLDING
At that time, King Pasenadi witnessed the Buddha’s miraculous transformations: a thousand flower platforms covered the top of the Tathāgata. Above them were a thousand petals, and above them were a thousand transformed Buddha bodies. Within the thousand petals were countless Buddhas, all speaking the Prajñāpāramitā.
King Pasenadi said:
O World-Honored One! Such immeasurable Prajñā-pāramitā cannot be apprehended through consciousness, nor can it be known through wisdom. How can those virtuous sons understand this sutra clearly and expound it for others?
The Buddha taught:
O great king! Listen carefully! From the initial practice of patience through the Vajra Samādhi, those who cultivate the thirteen contemplative methods according to the Dharma are all Dharma teachers. Relying on this Dharma, they preserve and establish it. All of you should regard them as you would the Buddha and make offerings to them, presenting hundreds of thousands of millions of billions of beautiful fragrant flowers as offerings.
O virtuous one! Such a Dharma teacher cultivates the lineage of Bodhisattvas. If Bhikshus, Bhikshunis, Upāsakas, and Upāsikās practice the Ten Abodes, encounter the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha, arouse the Bodhi mind, benefit and cherish sentient beings, and contemplate their own body, the faculties, and the six elements, knowing all to be impermanent, suffering, empty, and without self; if they clearly understand karmic actions, birth and death, and Nirvāṇa, enabling themselves and others to gain benefit and peace; if, upon hearing praise or slander of the Buddha, their minds remain settled and unmoved; if, upon hearing that there is a Buddha or that there is no Buddha, their minds remain pure, tranquil, and do not regress; if they do not commit the three karmic actions, cultivate the six harmonies of respect, use skillful means to discipline and transform sentient beings, diligently study the ten wisdoms, and use supernatural powers to manifest transformations for the benefit of beings.
**Lower Grade: Cultivating the Eighty-Four Thousand Pāramitās**
O virtuous one! From the practice of patience onward, after passing through ten thousand kalpas of practicing the ten wholesome deeds, one sometimes retreats and sometimes advances, like a light feather carried by the wind, drifting in all directions. If one reaches the stage of patience, one enters the state of correct concentration, does not commit the five rebellious offenses, does not slander the True Dharma, and understands that the marks of self and phenomena are both empty. For one great asaṃkhyeya kalpa, one dwells in the position of liberation. If one cultivates this patience, superior practices can arise.
Furthermore, those of the nature-seed lineage, Bodhisattvas who dwell in non-discrimination, because they cultivate the ten wisdom contemplations, relinquish wealth and life. Because they uphold pure precepts, their minds become humble. Because they benefit themselves and others, birth and death cannot disturb them. Because they deeply understand the nature of non-form, they penetrate existence as illusory. Because they do not seek karmic rewards, they attain unobstructed understanding. Because in every thought they manifest the Buddha’s spiritual powers, they counteract the four inverted views and the three unwholesome roots. Because of karmic results and the ten inversions of the three times, views of self, person, and cognition are false in every moment; they penetrate that names are provisional, feelings are provisional, and phenomena are provisional. All cannot be grasped, there are no marks of self and others, and they constantly contemplate in accordance with truth.
**Middle Grade: Cultivating the Eighty-Four Thousand Pāramitās**
During two great asaṃkhyeya kalpas, they practice various superior deeds and attain the firm stage of patience.
Furthermore, Bodhisattvas of the lineage of the Path Seed dwell in firm patience, contemplate the nature of all phenomena and attain non-arising and non-ceasing. Through the four immeasurable minds, they completely destroy obscuring hindrances. They constantly encounter Buddhas and make vast offerings, constantly learn from the Buddhas, dwell in the mind of dedication, and dedicate all roots of virtue they have cultivated toward ultimate reality. Through samādhi, they perform many Buddha activities, manifest various kinds of bodies, practice the four methods of gathering beings, dwell in a mind free from discrimination, and teach and benefit sentient beings. Their wisdom is bright and clear, they deeply observe, cultivate all practices and vows, and are able to serve as Dharma teachers who discipline and guide sentient beings. They perfectly contemplate the five aggregates, the three realms, and the two truths, no longer having the marks of self and others, and attain true nature.
Although they constantly cultivate ultimate truth, they still receive rebirth within the three realms. Why? Because the karmic results formed by habitual conditioning have not yet been completely destroyed at the root; therefore, they are born among gods and humans according to the path.
**Higher Grade: Cultivating the Eighty-Four Thousand Pāramitās**
During three great asaṃkhyeya kalpas, they cultivate the two benefits, carry out countless beneficial activities, completely master all samādhis, dwell in superior contemplation, cultivate the practices of transcendence, and realize the equal stage of the noble ones.
They enter the household of the Tathāgata and dwell in Equal Patience. The first non-form wisdom illuminates the ultimate truth, a single equal characteristic that is neither characteristic nor without characteristic; it cuts off all ignorance and completely extinguishes all greed within the three realms. Throughout immeasurable future lifetimes, they will never again return to the stream of birth and death. Taking great compassion as the foremost, they arouse great vows. Regarding skillful wisdom, they cultivate immeasurable superior practices moment by moment. Since it is neither realization nor non-realization, they study all things completely; since it is neither dwelling nor non-dwelling, they proceed toward Omniscience. They move within birth and death without being disturbed by the armies of Māra, are far removed from self and what belongs to self, have no more fear, have no marks of self or others, constantly teach and transform sentient beings, freely manifest through the power of vows, and are born in pure realms.
O virtuous one! This first awakened wisdom is neither suchness, nor wisdom, nor existence, nor non-existence; it has no two marks. Its wondrous application of skillful means is neither inverted, nor abiding, nor moving, nor pure. The two benefits are自在, like water and waves: neither one nor different. The wisdom that gives rise to the Pāramitās is also neither one nor different. Through four great asaṃkhyeya kalpas, they fully cultivate millions of practices and vows.
Bodhisattvas at this stage no longer have habitual karmic residues within the three realms and do not create new karma. Following the power of wisdom and vows, they are born according to their aspirations. Moment by moment, they constantly practice Dāna-pāramitā: giving, loving speech, beneficial action, and cooperation. Their vast purity is complete; they abide fully in benefiting sentient beings.
Furthermore, the Great Bodhisattva at the Stage of Defilement-Free attains the four immeasurable minds, supreme and tranquil, cutting off the habitual tendencies of anger and so forth, and cultivating all practices; namely: abandoning killing, not taking what is not given, a mind free from sensual defilement, truthful speech, harmonious speech, gentle speech, disciplined speech, constantly practicing the mind of equanimity, always arising with the mind of loving-kindness, abiding in an upright mind, tranquil and purely wholesome, far removed from the impurities of broken precepts, practicing contemplation of great loving-kindness, with each moment arising before the mind. Through five asamkhyeya kalpas, they maintain complete purity of the Perfection of Precepts, with courageous resolve, completely separated from all defilements.
Furthermore, the Great Bodhisattva at the Stage of Radiance abides in non-discrimination, extinguishes the darkness of ignorance, and within the Patience of the Signless realizes the three knowledges, clearly knowing the three times, without coming or going. Relying on the four meditations and the four formless absorptions, with non-discriminating wisdom, following their sequence, they perfect supreme concentration, attain the five supernatural powers, and manifest bodies large or small, appearing and disappearing freely. With the pure divine eye they see all realms; with the pure divine ear they hear all kinds of sounds; with knowledge of others’ minds they know the minds of sentient beings; with knowledge of former lives they know immeasurable differences. During six asamkhyeya kalpas, they cultivate all practices of the Perfection of Patience, attain great dhāraṇī, and bring benefit and happiness to sentient beings.
Furthermore, the Bodhisattva at the Stage of Blazing Wisdom practices Following Patience, relinquishing all things in order to completely sever the subtle aspects of the view of self and the extreme views. They cultivate the immeasurable factors of enlightenment: the Four Foundations of Mindfulness, the Four Right Efforts, the Four Bases of Spiritual Power, the Faculties, the Powers, the Factors of Enlightenment, and the Noble Path, all complete, in order to accomplish the Powers, Fearlessnesses, and the Buddha’s unique qualities. During seven asamkhyeya kalpas, they cultivate immeasurable Perfection of Diligence, abandoning laziness and benefiting all sentient beings everywhere.
Furthermore, the Great Bodhisattva at the Difficult-to-Conquer Stage, taking the four fearlessnesses and following the pure, equal true suchness with its mark of non-difference, abandons the Lesser Vehicle and the desire for Nirvāṇa, accumulates all merits, and fully contemplates the truths: this is the Noble Truth of Suffering, the Truth of Origin, the Truth of Cessation, and the Truth of the Path. They contemplate the immeasurable conventional and ultimate truths and bring benefit and happiness to sentient beings. They study various skills, literature, medicine, singing and chanting, entertainment, craftsmanship, spells, non-Buddhist doctrines and unusual teachings, accurately observing auspicious and inauspicious signs without error. Yet toward sentient beings they do not cause suffering or distress. For the sake of benefit, they reveal teachings to all, gradually enabling them to abide in unsurpassed Bodhi. They know the paths of liberation and the paths of obstacles in the various stages. During eight asamkhyeya kalpas, they constantly cultivate samādhi and illuminate the practices.
Furthermore, the Great Bodhisattva at the Manifest Stage attains the higher Following Patience, abides in the three gates of liberation, and cuts off the coarse manifest aspects of the causes and actions of accumulation in the three realms. With great compassion increasing, they contemplate and see that all births and deaths, obscured by ignorance, karmic habits, consciousness seeds, name-and-form, the six sense bases, contact, feeling, craving, grasping, becoming, birth, aging, and death, all arise from attachment to the karmic results of ignorance of “I.” They are neither existent nor nonexistent, one mark and without marks, because there is no duality. During nine asamkhyeya kalpas, they cultivate hundreds of thousands of samādhis of emptiness, signlessness, and wishlessness, attaining all the Prajñāpāramitā that illuminates without limit.
The Dharma of non-differentiation cuts off the subtle manifest aspects of karmic results, abides in cessation concentration, and cultivates superior practices. Although always in quiescence, they universally teach all sentient beings, manifesting as entering the ranks of the Śrāvakas, following the wisdom of the Buddha, manifesting as resembling non-Buddhist practitioners, manifesting as a demon king, and although following the ways of the world, they always transcend the world. During ten asamkhyeya kalpas, they cultivate hundreds of thousands of samādhis and, through skillful means, extensively explain the Dharma treasury. All adornments are completely perfected.
Furthermore, the Great Bodhisattva at the Immovable Stage abides in the Patience of Non-arising, whose essence neither increases nor decreases, cuts off all exertion, and whose mind is always tranquil and extinct, without further marks of body or mind, like empty space. These Bodhisattvas’ Buddha-mind, Bodhi-mind, and Nirvāṇa-mind all do not arise because of their original vows. Empowered by all Buddhas, they can, within a single moment, give rise to the activity of wisdom and illuminate equality in both aspects. Using the ten wisdoms of the ten Powers, they travel throughout countless great thousand worlds, benefiting and bringing happiness to all according to the various kinds of sentient beings. During ten thousand asamkhyeya kalpas, they completely cultivate hundreds of thousands of great vows, with their thoughts always directed toward all-seed wisdom and omniscient wisdom.
Furthermore, the Great Bodhisattva at the Stage of Good Wisdom abides in the higher Patience of Non-arising, extinguishes the marks of mind within mind, attains mastery through wisdom realization, completely destroys obstacles, possesses great supernatural powers, cultivates the Powers and Fearlessnesses, preserves perfectly the Dharma treasury of all Buddhas, and attains unobstructed understanding: of Dharma, meaning, expression, and eloquence. They explain the true Dharma without interruption until complete extinction. Throughout countless worlds, in a single instant they can use one sound to explain all difficult questions of all sentient beings, causing them great joy. During ten thousand asamkhyeya kalpas, they can manifest hundreds of thousands of billions of supernatural powers of the Buddha, benefiting and perfecting all through the inexhaustible Dharma treasury.
Furthermore, the Great Bodhisattva at the Dharma Cloud Stage possesses immeasurable wisdom that reflects and observes. From the moment they first arouse faith, through hundreds of thousands of asamkhyeya kalpas, they accumulate immeasurable assisting practices of the Path, increasing boundless great merit and wisdom, attaining mastery over actions, and cutting off obstacles to supernatural powers. In a single thought, they can travel throughout hundreds of thousands of billions of asamkhyeya Buddha realms as numerous as dust particles in the ten directions, know all the mental activities of sentient beings as belonging to superior, middling, or inferior faculties, and teach them the three vehicles so that they cultivate the Perfections, enter the realms of practice, Powers, and Fearlessnesses of the Buddha, and follow the tranquil transformation of the basis of the Tathāgata.
Good son! From the beginning of cultivating patience until attaining the Vajra Samādhi, it is all called subduing all afflictions through the signless faith-patience, illuminating the ultimate truth, extinguishing afflictions, giving rise to liberating wisdom, gradually subduing and eliminating them, and attaining the unborn and non-arising through the mind of non-arising and non-ceasing. When this mind is extinguished, ignorance is extinguished, and the Vajra Samādhi manifests before one. All seeing and knowing are not called seeing and knowing. Only the Buddha understands clearly, because He possesses all-seed wisdom; therefore, all seeing and knowing can then truly be called seeing and knowing.
O virtuous son! When the Vajra Samādhi manifests before one, it still cannot be equal to the Unequalled Among the Unequalled. It is like a person who ascends a very high tower and looks down, seeing everything clearly; likewise, in the position of liberation, the one mark, the markless, the unborn and undying are all equally in accord with the true nature of reality, with the treasury of merit of the Dharma-nature, abiding in the position of the Tathāgata.
O virtuous son! In this way, all Great Bodhisattvas who uphold and expound this sutra will go to all Buddha realms throughout the ten directions, bringing benefit and peace to sentient beings, and fully realizing the true characteristics, no different from what I realize today.
O virtuous son! All Tathāgatas throughout the Dharma realm of the ten directions rely upon this gateway and attain Buddhahood. If anyone says: “One can go beyond this gateway and attain Buddhahood,” then that is the speech of Māra, not the teaching of the Buddha. Therefore, you should know thus, see thus, and have faith and understanding thus.
At that time, wishing to summarize the meaning above, the World-Honored One spoke a verse:
Bodhisattva stage of Subduing Patience
Growing in the Buddha Dharma
The thirty steadfast minds
Are called non-retrogression.
Newly realizing the nature of equality
Being born into the house of the Buddhas
Because one has just attained awakening
It is called the Joyful Stage.
Far removed from all defilements
All impurities of anger and so forth
Complete with pure moral virtues
It is called the Stainless Stage.
Completely extinguishing the darkness of ignorance
Attaining all meditative concentrations
Because the light of wisdom shines forth
It is called the Radiant Stage.
The pure factors of enlightenment
Leaving behind the body-view and extreme views
The fire of wisdom blazing brightly
It is called the Blazing Wisdom Stage.
Knowing the truths as they truly are
The worldly skills and arts
Benefiting all sentient beings
It is called the Difficult-to-Conquer Stage.
Contemplating phenomena as arising through conditions
From ignorance to old age and death
Realizing that profound Dharma
It is called the Manifest Stage.
The skillful means of samadhi
Manifesting countless bodies
Skillfully harmonizing with sentient beings
It is called the Far-Going Stage.
Abiding in the ocean of the signless
Receiving the blessings of all Buddhas
Freely destroying the armies of Mara
It is called the Unmoving Stage.
Attaining the four unobstructed understandings
One sound speaks all teachings
Those who hear it all rejoice
It is called the Excellent Wisdom Stage.
Wisdom like a dense cloud
Covering the entire Dharma realm
Pouring down the nectar of Dharma
It is called the Dharma Cloud Stage.
Fully possessing the undefiled precepts
The body always pure and liberated
Quiescent, extinguished, beyond conception
It is called the All-Knowing Wisdom.
The Buddha taught King Prasenajit:
After I enter Nirvana, when the Dharma is about to perish, because all sentient beings create evil karma, causing disasters to occur in the various realms. In order to protect themselves, the crown princes, princes, queens and consorts, relatives, ministers, common people, and the entire realm, all kings should receive and uphold this Prajñāpāramitā, and all will attain peace and happiness. Now I entrust this sutra to the kings; I do not entrust it to monks, nuns, male lay disciples, or female lay disciples. Why? Because without the majestic power of the king, it cannot stand firm. Therefore, you should always receive, uphold, recite, and explain this sutra.
O Great King! Today I have manifested in the great trichiliocosm one hundred billion Mount Sumerus, one hundred billion suns and moons; each Mount Sumeru has four continents. In this Jambudvīpa there are sixteen great kingdoms, five hundred middle kingdoms, and one hundred thousand small kingdoms. If any of these kingdoms experience the seven calamities, in order to eliminate those calamities, if all kings receive, uphold, and explain this Prajñāpāramitā, then the seven calamities will immediately be extinguished, and the country will return to peace and happiness.
King Prasenajit asked the Buddha:
What are these seven calamities?
The Buddha taught:
The sun and moon do not move according to their proper courses and times; the color of the sun changes: white, red, yellow, black, or two, three, four, or five suns appear shining at the same time. The color of the moon changes: red or yellow. The sun and moon eclipse one another, or appear overlapping each other: one, two, three, four, or five discs appear superimposed.
The stars do not move according to their proper courses and times. The stars—such as comets, Jupiter, Mars, Venus, Mercury, Saturn, and so forth—undergo changes or sometimes appear during the daytime.
Dragon fire, demon fire, human fire, tree fire, and fierce flames blaze everywhere, burning and destroying all things.
The weather changes, with abnormal cold and heat. In winter there are thunder and lightning storms; in summer there are frost and snow. When the rain stops, earth, rocks, gravel, and sand suddenly fall down. Then rain of deep red water falls, and rivers and seas overflow, washing away rocks and causing mountains to float.
Violent winds constantly arise, darkening the sun and moon, tearing off roofs, uprooting trees, and causing sand to fly and rocks to move.
Heaven and earth suffer drought, causing lakes and ponds to dry up, vegetation to wither and die, and hundreds of kinds of grains and crops to fail to grow.
Bandits from the four directions invade within and outside the country; warfare arises one after another, causing countless people to lose their lives.
O Great King! Today I have spoken briefly about such calamities. If during the daytime the sun does not appear, and at night the moon does not appear, if there are all kinds of disasters in the sky, such as the absence of clouds, rain, or snow. And on earth there are also disasters such as cracking, collapsing, sinking, and shaking. Or blood flows, demons and spirits appear, strange birds and beasts emerge… Such disasters are countless, infinite, and boundless. Whenever each disaster occurs, one must receive, uphold, recite, and explain this Prajñāpāramitā.
When the sixteen kings heard the Buddha speak in this way, they were all frightened. King Prasenajit said to the Buddha:
World-Honored One! Why do heaven and earth have such disasters?
The Buddha taught:
O Great King! It is because all the people in the large and small kingdoms of Jambudvīpa are unfilial toward their parents and do not respect teachers, elders, śramaṇas, or brāhmaṇas. The kings and great ministers do not practice according to the True Dharma. Because of these evil and unwholesome acts, such disasters occur.
O Great King! The Prajñāpāramitā can give rise to all the teachings of the Buddhas, all the liberating teachings of the Bodhisattvas, all the unsurpassed teachings of kings, and all the teachings of transcendence for sentient beings. It is like the wish-fulfilling mani jewel: its precious body possesses all virtues, can suppress poisonous dragons and evil spirits, can fulfill the wishes of people, and can correspond with a Wheel-Turning King; it is called the wish-fulfilling jewel. It can cause great Dragon Kings such as Nanda, Upananda, and others to rain down sweet nectar that nourishes plants and trees. If, in the darkness of night, the wish-fulfilling jewel is placed upon a tall banner pole, its light will illuminate heaven and earth just like the rising sun. This Prajñāpāramitā is also like this. You should make banners, flags, and jeweled canopies, burn incense, scatter flowers, and make extensive offerings. Make a precious box to contain this sutra and place it upon a jeweled table. Whenever you wish to travel, this sutra should always lead the way ahead. Wherever you stay, you should make a seven-jeweled banner, use precious jewels to create a seat, place this sutra upon it, and make offerings with all kinds of offerings, just as one serves one’s parents, or as the devas serve Śakra.
O Great King! I see that all kings of the various countries have, in past lives, served five hundred Buddhas, respectfully honored and made offerings to Them, and thus attained the position of emperor. All sages who have attained the fruits of the path are then born in those countries to bring great benefit. When a king’s merit is exhausted and he becomes unrighteous, the sages depart, and disasters arise one after another.
O Great King! If in future ages there are kings who establish the True Dharma and support the Three Jewels, I will instruct the assemblies of Great Bodhisattvas in the five directions to come and protect that king’s country:
In the East is the Great Bodhisattva Vajra Holder, holding a vajra pestle in his hand and emitting blue light, who together with four hundred million Bodhisattvas comes to protect that king’s country.
In the South is the Great Bodhisattva Vajra Treasure, holding a vajra mani jewel in his hand and emitting sunlight-colored radiance, who together with four hundred million Bodhisattvas comes to protect that king’s country.
In the West is the Great Bodhisattva Vajra Sharpness, holding a vajra sword in his hand and emitting golden light, who together with four hundred million Bodhisattvas comes to protect that king’s country.
In the North is the Great Bodhisattva Vajra Yakṣa, holding a vajra bell in his hand and emitting lapis lazuli-colored light, who together with four hundred million Bodhisattvas comes to protect that king’s country.
In the Center is the Great Bodhisattva Vajra Prajñāpāramitā, holding a vajra wheel in his hand and emitting five-colored light, who together with four hundred million Bodhisattvas comes to protect that king’s country.
These five Great Bodhisattvas, together with immeasurable great assemblies such as these, will remain in your countries and carry out great beneficial deeds. You should establish images of them and make offerings to them.
At that time, the Great Bodhisattvas Vajra Holder and others immediately rose, bowed with their heads at the Buddha’s feet, then withdrew to one side and said to the Buddha:
World-Honored One! Our original vow is to rely upon the spiritual power of the Buddha. If in any place throughout the ten directions where this sutra exists, there are those who receive, uphold, recite, and explain it, then we and all our retinues like this will, in a single moment, arrive at that place to protect the True Dharma and establish the True Dharma, causing the calamities of warfare, epidemics, and so forth in that country to all be eliminated.
World-Honored One! We possess a dhāraṇī that can empower and protect; it is the swift method of practice of all Buddhas. If anyone hears it even once, all karmic obstacles and defilements will be eliminated, let alone those who recite it repeatedly and learn it by heart. Through the majestic power of the Dharma, it causes a country to completely end all calamities.
The Great Bodhisattvas before the Buddha spoke the dhāraṇī together in unison:
“Namo ratna-trayaya. Namo aryavalokiteshvaraya tathagataya arhate samyak-sambuddhaya. Namo aryavalokiteshvara mahasattvaya mahakarunikaya. Tadyatha: jina jnana pavara dharmakshaya kusha paratibhavana vartaya sarva buddha avalokite yoge parinispanna parinirmala hritaya vartaya. Bodhicitta samjnani sarva bhushita bhishikte dharma sagara sambhute amogha shri varani maha samanta bhadra bhumi niryate vidya karana paripurna sarva siddhana masakrite. Sarva bodhisattva samjnani bhagavati buddha mati aryanikashani aryanakaramani mahaprajnaparamite svaha.”
Hearing this, the World-Honored One praised the Vajra-Holding Bodhisattvas:
Excellent, excellent! If there is anyone who reads, recites, and upholds this dhāraṇī, I and all the Buddhas of the ten directions will always support and protect that person. The evil spirits and demons will respect that person as they would the Buddha. Before long, that person will attain Unsurpassed Bodhi.
O great king! I entrust this sutra to you. All the kings of the countries of: Vaishali, Kosala, Shravasti, Magadha, Varanasi, Kapilavastu, Kushinagar, Kausambi, Bhadra, Vatsa, Mathura, Ujjain, Vatsabhumi, Devadaha, Kashi, Champa … must all receive, uphold, and practice the Prajñāpāramitā.
Hearing the Buddha speak of such calamities, the great assembly of asuras and others all had their hair stand on end and raised their voices, saying:
“We vow that in future lives we will not be born in such countries.”
At that time, the sixteen kings all abandoned their royal positions, left home to cultivate the Way, and fully attained the eight Abhibhāyatanas, the ten Kṛtsnāyatanas, and attained the patience of subduing, the patience of speech, and the patience of non-arising dharmas.
Then all the assemblies of gods, humans, asuras, and others scattered Mandārava flowers, Mañjūṣaka flowers, Vārṣika flowers, and Sumana flowers as offerings to the Buddha. According to their faculties and capacities, they attained the three gates of liberation, realized the emptiness of self, the emptiness of dharmas, and the factors of Bodhi.
Countless, innumerable Great Bodhisattvas scattered Utpala flowers and Padma flowers as offerings to the Buddha. Countless Samādhis appeared before them, and they attained abiding in the following patience and the patience of non-arising dharmas. Countless, innumerable Great Bodhisattvas attained as many Samādhi gates as the sands of the Ganges, equality of ultimate truth and conventional truth, complete unobstructed eloquence, constantly gave rise to great compassion, and in hundreds of thousands of millions of asankhyeya Buddha realms, in worlds as numerous as dust particles, they widely benefited sentient beings and manifested themselves as Buddhas.
Chapter 8: ENTRUSTMENT
The Buddha said to King Pasenadi:
Today I teach you all: After I enter nirvana, when the True Dharma is about to perish, after fifty years, after five hundred years, after five thousand years, when there is no longer Buddha, Dharma, or Sangha, this sutra shall be the Three Jewels. I entrust it to the kings of various countries so that they may establish and preserve it; so that the four assemblies of my disciples may receive and uphold it, read and recite it, understand the meaning and principles of the sutra, and widely expound the Dharma of liberation to sentient beings, causing them to cultivate practice and escape from birth and death.
O great king! In the future age of the five corruptions, all kings, princes, ministers, and others will rely on their own high status and destroy my teachings. They will create laws and regulations to prevent my disciples, the Bhikkhus and Bhikkhunis, from leaving home and practicing the right path, and will also prohibit the construction of stupas and the making of Buddha images. Laypeople will sit above, while Bhikkhus will stand below on the ground, treated no differently from slaves or military servants. You should know that at that time it will not be long before the True Dharma is destroyed.
O great king! The causes and conditions for the destruction of a country are created by yourselves, because you rely on your own power and authority to prevent the four assemblies from cultivating merit and virtue. As for evil Bhikkhus, they accept privately invited offerings, while knowledgeable Bhikkhus gather together with one mind, becoming close and friendly with one another, establishing vegetarian assemblies to seek blessings. This is the way of external teachings, and is completely not my Dharma. It causes the people to suffer countless illnesses and hardships. You should know that at that time the country will be destroyed.
O great king! In the age of the decline of the Dharma, kings, ministers, and the four assemblies will all engage in unlawful actions, opposing the Buddha’s teachings, creating various offenses, neither according to Dharma nor Vinaya, binding Bhikkhus like criminals in prison. You should know that at that time it will not be long before the True Dharma is destroyed.
O great king! After I enter nirvana, the four assemblies of my disciples, together with all kings, princes, and officials, are precisely those responsible for protecting and supporting the Three Jewels. Yet they themselves destroy them, like worms within the body of a lion consuming the lion’s own flesh, not like external teachings. Whoever destroys my True Dharma commits an extremely grave offense, because they cause the True Dharma to gradually decline. The people will lose righteous conduct, all evils will gradually increase, lifespans will continually decrease, children will become unfilial, relatives will no longer live in harmony, heavenly beings and dragons will no longer provide assistance, evil spirits and evil dragons will come daily to cause harm, calamities and strange disasters will continue, spreading misfortune everywhere. Those who destroy the True Dharma will fall into the hell realms, the realms of animals, and the realms of hungry ghosts. If they are reborn as humans, they will be poor, destitute, lowly, and their faculties will be incomplete. Like form following a shadow, like an echo following a sound, like writing done at night that remains even after the lamp has been extinguished, the karmic consequences of destroying the True Dharma are likewise.
O great king! In future times, all kings, princes, ministers, and my disciples will create books and records arbitrarily, establish people to oversee and manage the great and small Sangha, and command them in unreasonable ways. You should know that at that time the Buddha Dharma will not remain for long.
O great king! In future times, all kings and the four assemblies of disciples must rely upon all Buddhas of the ten directions, constantly cultivate the path, and establish the propagation of the teachings. But evil Bhikkhus, seeking fame and gain, will not rely on my Dharma. Before kings, they will speak of offenses and faults as a condition for destroying the True Dharma. Those kings will be unable to distinguish right from wrong, believing the words of evil Bhikkhus, establishing mistaken laws and regulations, and not relying on the Buddha’s precepts and teachings. You should know that at that time it will not be long before the Dharma is completely extinguished.
O great king! In future times, kings, ministers, and the four assemblies of disciples will themselves destroy the True Dharma and destroy the causes and conditions of their countries. They themselves will bear the consequences; it is not the fault of the Buddha Dharma. The heavenly beings and dragons will depart, and the five corruptions will gradually increase. Even if this were spoken of for an entire eon, it could not be fully described.
At that time, the sixteen great kings, upon hearing these warnings about the future age, grieved deeply and wept, causing the three thousand realms to tremble. Heaven and earth became dark, without any light. At that time, all the kings sincerely accepted and upheld the Buddha’s teachings, vowing that they would not obstruct the four assemblies from leaving home to learn the Way, and that they would practice exactly according to the Buddha’s teachings.
At that time, countless great assemblies as numerous as the sands of the Ganges all lamented: At that time the world will be empty, meaning there will be no Buddha.
King Prasenajit said to the Buddha:
“World-Honored One! What should this sutra be called? How should we respectfully practice and uphold it?”
The Buddha taught:
“O great king! This sutra shall be called the *Prajñāpāramitā of the Humane King Who Protects the Nation*, and it is also called the *Sweet Dew Dharma Medicine*. If anyone drinks it, they will be cured of all illnesses.
O great king! The merit and virtue of Prajñāpāramitā are like empty space; they cannot be measured. If a person receives, upholds, reads, and recites this sutra, the merit they obtain can protect humane kings and all sentient beings, like a wall, like a fortress. Therefore, you should receive and uphold it.”
After the Buddha finished speaking this sutra, the countless Great Bodhisattvas—Maitreya, Lion’s Roar, and others; the countless Hearers—Śāriputra, Subhūti, and others; the countless heavenly beings and humans of the Desire Realm and Form Realm, Bhikkhus, Bhikkhunis, Upāsakas, Upāsikās, Asuras, and all the great assembly, having heard what the Buddha said, were all greatly joyful, faithfully accepted it, and respectfully practiced it.