The Great Prajñāpāramitā Sutra
Volume 313
Chapter 44: Various Applications (3)
The Venerable Subhūti addressed the Buddha:
“World-Honored One, how do beings abiding in the Bodhisattva Vehicle lack skillful means?”
The Buddha said:
“Subhūti, if beings abiding in the Bodhisattva Vehicle, from the moment they first arouse the aspiration, cultivate the Perfection of Giving without skillful means, cultivate the Perfection of Moral Discipline without skillful means, cultivate the Perfection of Patience without skillful means, cultivate the Perfection of Diligence without skillful means, cultivate the Perfection of Meditation without skillful means, and cultivate the Perfection of Wisdom without skillful means, then, Subhūti, when such beings practice giving, they think: ‘I practice giving; that person receives my gift; I give such-and-such an object.’ When practicing moral discipline, they think: ‘I uphold the precepts; these precepts are what I uphold; I have accomplished these precepts.’ When practicing patience, they think: ‘I cultivate patience; that is the object of my patience; I have accomplished this patience.’ When practicing diligence, they think: ‘I cultivate diligence; for the sake of this diligence, I cultivate diligence; for the sake of this diligence, I possess this diligence.’ When practicing meditation, they think: ‘I am cultivating concentration; for the sake of this concentration, I attain this concentration.’ When practicing wisdom, they think: ‘I am cultivating wisdom; for the sake of this wisdom, I attain this wisdom.’
“Furthermore, Subhūti, when these beings abiding in the Bodhisattva Vehicle practice giving, they cling to the existence of giving, cling to the cause of this giving, cling to this giving as belonging to the self, and thus give rise to pride. When practicing moral discipline, they cling to the existence of moral discipline, cling to its cause, cling to it as belonging to the self, and become proud. The same applies when practicing patience, diligence, meditation, and wisdom.
“Why is this? Because within the Perfection of Giving there is no such discrimination, nor is it like that discrimination. Why? Because neither this shore nor the other shore constitutes the characteristic of the Perfection of Giving. Likewise, within the Perfection of Moral Discipline, Patience, Diligence, Meditation, and Wisdom, there is no such discrimination, nor is it like that discrimination. Why? Because neither this shore nor the other shore constitutes the characteristic of these perfections.
“Subhūti, because these beings abiding in the Bodhisattva Vehicle do not clearly know the characteristics of this shore and the other shore, they are unable to embrace the Perfection of Giving, the Perfection of Moral Discipline, Patience, Diligence, Meditation, or Wisdom. They cannot embrace the emptiness of internal phenomena, the emptiness of external phenomena, the emptiness of both internal and external phenomena, the emptiness of emptiness, great emptiness, ultimate emptiness, conditioned emptiness, unconditioned emptiness, ultimate emptiness, boundless emptiness, undispersed emptiness, unchanging emptiness, intrinsic-nature emptiness, characteristic emptiness, shared-characteristic emptiness, the emptiness of all phenomena, the emptiness of the ungraspable, the emptiness of nonexistence, the emptiness of self-nature, or the emptiness of the self-nature of emptiness.
“They cannot embrace suchness, the Dharma realm, Dharma-nature, the nature free from falsity, the unchanging nature, the nature of equality, the nature free from arising, fixed reality, abiding reality, ultimate reality, the realm of space, or the inconceivable realm.
“They cannot embrace the Noble Truth of suffering, the Noble Truth of its origin, cessation, or the path. They cannot embrace the four meditative absorptions, the four immeasurables, or the four formless attainments. They cannot embrace the eight liberations, the eight spheres of mastery, the nine successive absorptions, or the ten totality contemplations. They cannot embrace the four foundations of mindfulness, the four right efforts, the four bases of supernatural power, the five faculties, the five powers, the seven factors of awakening, or the Noble Eightfold Path. They cannot embrace the liberation gateways of emptiness, signlessness, or wishlessness. They cannot embrace the ten Bodhisattva stages, the five kinds of vision, the six supernormal powers, the Buddha’s ten powers, the four fearlessnesses, the four unhindered knowledges, great loving-kindness, great compassion, great sympathetic joy, great equanimity, the eighteen unique qualities of a Buddha, unfailing mindfulness, constant relinquishment, omniscient wisdom, the wisdom of the path, the wisdom of all aspects, all dhāraṇī gateways, all samādhi gateways, all the practices of great Bodhisattvas, or the unsurpassed enlightenment of all Buddhas.
“Subhūti, for this reason, such beings abiding in the Bodhisattva Vehicle fall into the level of Śrāvakas or Pratyekabuddhas and fail to attain unsurpassed perfect enlightenment.
“Likewise, Subhūti, good men and good women abiding in the Bodhisattva Vehicle, because they do not embrace the profound Perfection of Wisdom nor skillful means, fall back to the levels of Śrāvakas and Pratyekabuddhas and fail to attain unsurpassed perfect enlightenment.”
At that time the Venerable Subhūti addressed the Buddha:
“World-Honored One, why is it that good men and good women abiding in the Bodhisattva Vehicle, because they constantly embrace the profound Perfection of Wisdom and continually embrace skillful means, do not fall into the levels of Śrāvakas or Pratyekabuddhas, but quickly attain unsurpassed perfect enlightenment?”
The Buddha said:
“Subhūti, there are good men and good women abiding in the Bodhisattva Vehicle who, from the moment they first arouse the aspiration, cultivate the Perfection of Giving free from attachment to self and what belongs to self; likewise they cultivate the Perfections of Moral Discipline, Patience, Diligence, Meditation, and Wisdom free from attachment to self and what belongs to self.
“When practicing giving, they do not think: ‘I practice giving; that person receives my gift; I give such-and-such an object.’ Likewise, when practicing moral discipline, patience, diligence, meditation, and wisdom, they do not think in terms of an ‘I’ who practices or attains these qualities.
“Furthermore, when they practice giving, they do not cling to the existence of giving, to its cause, or regard it as belonging to the self. The same applies to moral discipline, patience, diligence, meditation, and wisdom.
“Why? Because within the Perfection of Giving there is no such discrimination that could give rise to such attachment. Why? Because freedom from both this shore and the other shore is the characteristic of the Perfection of Giving. The same is true of the Perfections of Moral Discipline, Patience, Diligence, Meditation, and Wisdom.
“Subhūti, because these good men and good women clearly understand the characteristics of this shore and the other shore, they are able to embrace Giving, Moral Discipline, Patience, Diligence, Meditation, and the Perfection of Wisdom. They do not fall into the levels of Śrāvakas or Pratyekabuddhas but quickly attain unsurpassed perfect enlightenment.
“They are also able to embrace all forms of emptiness, suchness, the Dharma realm, Dharma-nature, the Noble Truths, the four meditative absorptions, the four immeasurables, the four formless attainments, the eight liberations, the eight spheres of mastery, the nine successive absorptions, the ten totality contemplations, the four foundations of mindfulness, the four right efforts, the four bases of supernatural power, the five faculties, the five powers, the seven factors of awakening, the Noble Eightfold Path, the liberation gateways of emptiness, signlessness, and wishlessness, the ten Bodhisattva stages, the five kinds of vision, the six supernormal powers, the Buddha’s ten powers, the four fearlessnesses, the four unhindered knowledges, great loving-kindness, great compassion, great sympathetic joy, great equanimity, the eighteen unique qualities of a Buddha, unfailing mindfulness, constant relinquishment, omniscient wisdom, the wisdom of the path, the wisdom of all aspects, all dhāraṇī gateways, all samādhi gateways, all Bodhisattva practices, and the unsurpassed enlightenment of all Buddhas. Therefore they do not fall into the levels of Śrāvakas or Pratyekabuddhas, but quickly attain unsurpassed perfect enlightenment.”
The Venerable Subhūti addressed the Buddha:
“World-Honored One, how do beings abiding in the Bodhisattva Vehicle possess skillful means?”
The Buddha said:
“Subhūti, if beings abiding in the Bodhisattva Vehicle, from the moment they first arouse the aspiration, cultivate the Perfection of Giving with skillful means, cultivate the Perfection of Moral Discipline with skillful means, cultivate the Perfection of Patience with skillful means, cultivate the Perfection of Diligence with skillful means, cultivate the Perfection of Meditation with skillful means, and cultivate the Perfection of Wisdom with skillful means, then, when practicing these perfections, they do not conceive of an ‘I’ practicing, another receiving, or a thing given. They do not cling to the existence of these perfections, to their causes, or regard them as belonging to the self, nor do they become proud.
“Why? Because within the Perfections there is no such discrimination, nor is there anything resembling such discrimination. Neither this shore nor the other shore is their characteristic.
“Subhūti, because they clearly understand the characteristics of this shore and the other shore, they can embrace the six perfections, skillful means, all forms of emptiness, suchness, the Dharma realm, Dharma-nature, the Noble Truths, the meditative attainments, the liberation gateways, the Bodhisattva stages, the five kinds of vision, the six supernormal powers, the Buddha’s ten powers, the four fearlessnesses, the four unhindered knowledges, great loving-kindness, great compassion, great sympathetic joy, great equanimity, the eighteen unique qualities of a Buddha, unfailing mindfulness, constant relinquishment, omniscient wisdom, the wisdom of the path, the wisdom of all aspects, all dhāraṇī gateways, all samādhi gateways, all Bodhisattva practices, and the unsurpassed enlightenment of all Buddhas. Therefore they do not fall into the levels of Śrāvakas or Pratyekabuddhas but quickly attain unsurpassed perfect enlightenment.
“Subhūti, in this way, good men and good women abiding in the Bodhisattva Vehicle, because they are able to embrace the profound Perfection of Wisdom together with skillful means, do not fall into the levels of Śrāvakas or Pratyekabuddhas, but quickly attain unsurpassed perfect enlightenment.”
Chapter 45: True Spiritual Friends (1)
At that time the Venerable Subhūti addressed the Buddha:
“World-Honored One, when a great Bodhisattva first begins the Bodhisattva career, how should he learn the Perfection of Wisdom? How should he learn the Perfection of Meditation? The Perfection of Diligence? The Perfection of Patience? The Perfection of Moral Discipline? The Perfection of Giving?”
The Buddha said:
“Subhūti, when a great Bodhisattva first begins the Bodhisattva career and wishes to cultivate the Perfections of Wisdom, Meditation, Diligence, Patience, Moral Discipline, and Giving, he should first draw near to, respect, and make offerings to a true spiritual friend who is able to teach these perfections correctly.
“When explaining the profound Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra, such a teacher should say:
‘Good man, come here! When practicing generosity, you should think: “This practice of generosity is for universally benefiting all sentient beings, dedicating it together toward unsurpassed perfect enlightenment.” Likewise, when observing moral discipline, cultivating patience, diligence, meditation, and wisdom, you should dedicate each practice universally for all sentient beings toward unsurpassed perfect enlightenment.’
“Good man, you should not rely upon form to attain unsurpassed perfect enlightenment, nor should you rely upon feeling, perception, volitional formations, or consciousness. Why? Because only by not clinging to form, feeling, perception, formations, or consciousness can one attain unsurpassed perfect enlightenment.
“You should not rely upon the eye-base, nor upon the ear, nose, tongue, body, or mind bases. You should not rely upon visible forms, sounds, smells, tastes, tactile objects, or mental objects. You should not rely upon the eye element, visible-form element, eye consciousness, eye-contact, or the feelings arising from eye-contact; nor upon the corresponding elements of the ear, nose, tongue, body, or mind.
“You should not rely upon the earth element, nor upon the water, fire, wind, space, or consciousness elements.
“You should not rely upon ignorance, nor upon formations, consciousness, name-and-form, the six sense bases, contact, feeling, craving, clinging, becoming, birth, aging and death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief, and despair.
“You should not rely upon the Perfection of Giving, nor upon the Perfections of Moral Discipline, Patience, Diligence, Meditation, or Wisdom.
“You should not rely upon the various kinds of emptiness, suchness, the Dharma realm, Dharma-nature, the Noble Truths, the four meditative absorptions, the four immeasurables, the four formless attainments, the eight liberations, the eight spheres of mastery, the nine successive absorptions, the ten totality contemplations, the four foundations of mindfulness, the four right efforts, the four bases of supernatural power, the five faculties, the five powers, the seven factors of awakening, the Noble Eightfold Path, the three liberation gateways, the ten Bodhisattva stages, the five kinds of vision, the six supernormal powers, the Buddha’s ten powers, the four fearlessnesses, the four unhindered knowledges, great loving-kindness, great compassion, great sympathetic joy, great equanimity, the eighteen unique qualities of a Buddha, unfailing mindfulness, constant relinquishment, omniscient wisdom, the wisdom of the path, the wisdom of all aspects, all dhāraṇī gateways, all samādhi gateways, the fruits of Stream-enterer, Once-returner, Non-returner, Arhatship, the realization of a Pratyekabuddha, all Bodhisattva practices, or even the unsurpassed enlightenment of all Buddhas.
“Why? Because only by not clinging to any of these does one attain unsurpassed perfect enlightenment.
“Good man, do not become attached to form, feeling, perception, formations, or consciousness. They are not things to which attachment should arise, because the intrinsic nature of all phenomena is emptiness.
“Likewise, do not become attached to the six sense bases, the six objects, the eighteen elements, the six elements, dependent origination, the six perfections, all forms of emptiness, suchness, the Dharma realm, Dharma-nature, the Noble Truths, the meditative attainments, the liberation gateways, the Bodhisattva stages, the five kinds of vision, the six supernormal powers, the Buddha’s ten powers, the four fearlessnesses, the four unhindered knowledges, great loving-kindness, great compassion, great sympathetic joy, great equanimity, the eighteen unique qualities of a Buddha, unfailing mindfulness, constant relinquishment, omniscient wisdom, the wisdom of the path, the wisdom of all aspects, all dhāraṇī gateways, all samādhi gateways, the fruits of the Śrāvaka path, the realization of a Pratyekabuddha, all Bodhisattva practices, or the unsurpassed enlightenment of all Buddhas.
“Why? Because none of these are objects to which attachment should arise. Why? Because the intrinsic nature of all phenomena is emptiness.”