THE GREAT PRAJÑĀPĀRAMITĀ SŪTRA
VOLUME 392
Chapter 71: BRINGING ABOUT THE ACCOMPLISHMENT OF SENTIENT BEINGS (3)
The Venerable Śāriputra said to the Buddha:
World-Honored One, when a Great Bodhisattva cultivates the perfection of wisdom, by what skillful means and through the wondrous power of such skillful means does he, although contemplating that all phenomena have no inherent nature and are completely nonexistent in reality, yet, relying on conventional truth, arouse the aspiration toward unsurpassed perfect enlightenment, and expound the Dharma to sentient beings so that they gain right understanding and depart from delusion?
The Buddha said:
Śāriputra, when Great Bodhisattvas cultivate the perfection of wisdom, they possess this skillful means: they completely do not see even the slightest real phenomenon that can abide within it, such that by abiding in it there would be obstruction; because of obstruction they would regress; because of regression their minds would become weak; and because their minds become weak, they would give rise to laziness.
Śāriputra, because all phenomena are completely nonexistent in reality, without self or anything belonging to self, all have emptiness as their own nature, their original nature is quiescent, and their own characteristics are quiescent, only all foolish ordinary beings, confused and deluded, cling to the aggregate of form; cling to the aggregates of feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness; cling to the eye faculty; cling to the ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind faculties; cling to the form realm; cling to the sound, smell, taste, touch, and dharma realms; cling to the eye element; cling to the ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind elements; cling to the form element; cling to the sound, smell, taste, touch, and dharma elements; cling to the eye consciousness element; cling to the ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind consciousness elements; cling to eye contact; cling to ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind contact; cling to feelings arising dependent upon eye contact; cling to feelings arising dependent upon ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind contact; cling to the earth element; cling to the water, fire, wind, space, and consciousness elements; cling to causes and conditions; cling to the immediately preceding condition, objective condition, and dominant condition; cling to phenomena arisen from conditions; cling to ignorance; cling to formations, consciousness, name-and-form, the six sense bases, contact, feeling, craving, grasping, existence, birth, aging-and-death, sorrow, lamentation, suffering, grief, and distress; cling to the perfection of giving; cling to pure morality, patience, diligence, meditative absorption, and the perfection of wisdom; cling to internal emptiness; cling to external emptiness; cling to emptiness of both the internal and external; cling to emptiness of emptiness; cling to great emptiness; cling to emptiness of ultimate meaning; cling to emptiness of conditioned phenomena; cling to emptiness of unconditioned phenomena; cling to emptiness of the ultimate; cling to emptiness without boundaries; cling to scattered emptiness; cling to emptiness of non-transformation; cling to emptiness of inherent nature; cling to emptiness of own characteristics; cling to emptiness of common characteristics; cling to emptiness throughout all phenomena; cling to emptiness that cannot be grasped; cling to emptiness of nonexistence; cling to emptiness of self-nature; cling to emptiness of the self-nature of emptiness; cling to the four foundations of mindfulness; cling to the four right efforts; the four bases of miraculous powers; the five faculties; the five powers; the seven factors of enlightenment; the eightfold noble path; cling to the noble truth of suffering; cling to the noble truth of origin, cessation, and path; cling to the four meditative absorptions; cling to the four immeasurables; the four formless concentrations; cling to the eight liberations; cling to the eight spheres of mastery; the nine successive concentrations; the ten universal bases; cling to all dhāraṇī gateways; cling to all samādhi gateways; cling to the liberation gateway of emptiness; cling to the liberation gateways of signlessness and wishlessness; cling to the stage of Joy; cling to the stage of Freedom from Defilement; the stage of Radiance; the stage of Blazing Wisdom; the stage of Difficult to Conquer; the stage of Manifestation; the stage of Far-Going; the stage of Immovability; the stage of Excellent Wisdom; the stage of Dharma Cloud; cling to the five kinds of eyes; cling to the six supernormal powers; cling to the ten powers of the Buddha; cling to the four fearlessnesses; the four kinds of unobstructed understanding; great loving-kindness, great compassion, great sympathetic joy, great equanimity; the eighteen unique qualities of a Buddha; cling to the thirty-two marks of a great person; cling to the eighty subsidiary characteristics; cling to the quality of not forgetting the Dharma; cling to the nature of always remaining in equanimity; cling to all-knowledge; cling to knowledge of the path aspects; knowledge of all aspects; cling to the fruit of Stream-entry; cling to the fruit of Once-returning, Non-returning, Arhatship, and the state of a Solitary Buddha; cling to all practices of Great Bodhisattvas; cling to unsurpassed perfect enlightenment of all Buddhas; cling to ordinary beings; cling to Stream-enterers, Once-returners, Non-returners, Arhats, Solitary Buddhas, Great Bodhisattvas, and Thus Come, Worthy, Perfectly Enlightened Ones.
Śāriputra, for this reason, Great Bodhisattvas contemplate that all Dharma gateways are completely nonexistent in reality, without self or anything belonging to self, all having emptiness as their own nature, with original nature quiescent and own characteristics quiescent. They cultivate the perfection of wisdom and establish themselves like an illusionist, teaching the Dharma to sentient beings. This means that for those who are greedy and miserly, they teach giving and cause them to cultivate the perfection of giving; for those who break precepts, they teach pure morality and cause them to cultivate the perfection of pure morality; for those who are angry, they teach patience and cause them to cultivate the perfection of patience; for those who are lazy, they teach diligence and cause them to cultivate the perfection of diligence; for those who are distracted, they teach meditative absorption and cause them to cultivate the perfection of meditative absorption; for those who are ignorant, they teach wisdom and cause them to cultivate the perfection of wisdom.
Śāriputra, after that Great Bodhisattva has established sentient beings so that they abide in giving, pure morality, patience, diligence, meditative absorption, and the perfection of wisdom, he again expounds to them the supreme noble Dharma capable of freeing them from birth and death. Sentient beings rely upon it and cultivate it, and may attain the fruit of Stream-entry, or the fruit of Once-returning, or the fruit of Non-returning, or the fruit of Arhatship, or the state of a Solitary Buddha, or enter the stage of a Great Bodhisattva, or attain unsurpassed perfect enlightenment.
At that time, Śāriputra said to the Buddha:
World-Honored One, when Great Bodhisattvas cultivate the perfection of wisdom, why are they not called persons who have attainment? That is, since sentient beings truly possess nothing, they cause them to abide in giving, pure morality, patience, diligence, meditative absorption, and the perfection of wisdom; and they again expound to them the supreme noble Dharma capable of freeing them from birth and death. Sentient beings rely upon it and cultivate it, and may attain the fruit of Stream-entry, the fruit of Once-returning, the fruit of Non-returning, the fruit of Arhatship, the state of a Solitary Buddha, enter the stage of a Great Bodhisattva, or attain unsurpassed perfect enlightenment—why is this so?
The Buddha said:
Śāriputra, when Great Bodhisattvas cultivate the perfection of wisdom, they do not have attainment with regard to sentient beings. Why? Śāriputra, because when those Great Bodhisattvas cultivate the perfection of wisdom, they do not see that there truly exists even a small sentient being that can be apprehended; there is only the conventional designation of “sentient being.”
Śāriputra, when that Great Bodhisattva cultivates the perfection of wisdom, abiding in the two truths, he teaches the correct Dharma to sentient beings. What are the two truths? They are conventional truth and ultimate truth.
Śāriputra, although within the two truths sentient beings cannot be apprehended, and the designation of sentient beings cannot be apprehended either, Great Bodhisattvas cultivating the perfection of wisdom, through skillful means, teach sentient beings the essential Dharma. After sentient beings hear that Dharma, even in this present life they do not attain a self, much less will they attain the object they hope to achieve, the fruit of realization!
Śāriputra, thus, a Great Bodhisattva cultivating the perfection of wisdom, through skillful means, although he teaches sentient beings the correct Dharma, causes them to cultivate right conduct, and attain the fruits of cultivation, nevertheless with regard to them his mind completely has no attainment.
The Venerable Śāriputra said to the Buddha:
Venerable One, these Great Bodhisattvas are true Great Bodhisattvas. Although regarding all phenomena they do not attain one nature, do not attain different natures, do not attain general characteristics, and do not attain particular characteristics, they nevertheless wear such armor of great merit. Because they wear that armor of great merit, they do not manifest in the Desire Realm, do not manifest in the Form Realm, do not manifest in the Formless Realm, do not manifest in the conditioned realm, and do not manifest in the unconditioned realm. Although they teach and transform sentient beings, causing them to be liberated from the three realms, yet with regard to sentient beings they have absolutely nothing to attain, and they likewise do not grasp the designations spoken by sentient beings. Because the designations of sentient beings cannot be grasped, there is neither bondage nor liberation; because there is neither bondage nor liberation, there is neither defilement nor purity; because there is neither defilement nor purity, the distinctions among the various destinies cannot be clearly known; because the distinctions among the destinies cannot be clearly known, there is no creation of karma and no arising of afflictions; because there is no karma and no afflictions, there are also no karmic results. When there are no karmic results, how could one know that there is a self and sentient beings wandering among the destinies, appearing within the three realms with countless varieties of distinctions?
The Buddha said:
Śāriputra, it is so, it is so, just as you have said! Śāriputra, if sentient beings previously existed and later did not exist, then Bodhisattvas and Tathāgatas would be mistaken; if birth and death within the realms previously existed and later did not exist, then Bodhisattvas and Tathāgatas would likewise be mistaken; and if they previously did not exist and later existed, the principle would be the same. Therefore, Śāriputra, whether or not the Tathāgata appears in the world, the nature of phenomena always remains abiding and never changes. Because in all phenomena, the nature of phenomena, the realm of phenomena, the fixed nature of phenomena, the abiding nature of phenomena, suchness, ultimate reality, the non-deceptive nature, and the unchanging nature are like space, within them there is not even a self, no sentient being, no life continuum, no ability to give rise, no ability to nurture, no ability to grow, no agent of transmigration, no mind-born being, no child, no ability to act, no ability to cause others to act, no ability to create karma, no ability to cause others to create karma, no ability to receive karmic results, no ability to cause others to receive karmic results, no knower, no one who causes others to know, no seer, no one who causes others to see—much less could there be form, feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness; there could be eye faculty, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind faculties; there could be form objects, sound, smell, taste, touch, and phenomena objects; there could be the eye realm, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind realms; there could be the form realm, sound, smell, taste, touch, and phenomena realms; there could be the eye consciousness realm, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind consciousness realms; there could be eye contact, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind contact; there could be feelings arising conditioned by eye contact, and feelings arising conditioned by ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind contact; there could be the earth element, water, fire, wind, space, and consciousness elements; there could be dependent origination, phenomena arisen through conditions, and the branches of dependent origination. Since there are no such phenomena as those spoken of, how could there be realms of birth and death? Since the realms of birth and death cannot be grasped, how could there be the act of bringing about the accomplishment of sentient beings and causing them to become liberated? It is only through dependence upon conventional designation that they are said to exist.
Śāriputra, because phenomena such as these are all empty in their own nature, the Great Bodhisattvas, having heard the truth from past Buddhas, in order to liberate sentient beings from inverted attachments, arouse the aspiration toward unsurpassed perfect enlightenment. When they arouse this aspiration, they do not think: “With regard to this Dharma, I have attained it, I will attain it; I have enabled those sentient beings to be liberated, and I will enable them to be liberated from the attachments to the suffering of birth and death.”
Śāriputra, that Great Bodhisattva, in order to liberate sentient beings from inverted attachments, wears the armor of merit, adorned with vast vows, courageously and diligently exerts effort, has no attachment or reluctance, does not abandon unsurpassed perfect enlightenment, and never gives rise to doubt regarding Bodhi: “Will I attain it, or will I not attain it?” They always think: “I will certainly attain the object I seek, unsurpassed perfect enlightenment, and perform true beneficial deeds for sentient beings, namely causing them to be liberated from deluded and inverted perceptions and from endlessly wandering through the realms and undergoing suffering in birth and death.”
Śāriputra, although that Great Bodhisattva liberates sentient beings from deluded and inverted perceptions and from endlessly undergoing birth and death in the realms, there is no attainment whatsoever; it is only by relying upon conventional designation that such a matter is said to exist.
Śāriputra, it is like a magician or his disciple who uses a magical art, such as the jeweled net of Śakra, Lord of the Gods, to transform countless hundreds of thousands of millions of sentient beings, and then transforms all kinds of excellent food and drink for those transformed sentient beings to consume until they are fully satisfied. Having done this, he rejoices and proclaims: “I have attained great merit.”
Śāriputra, what do you think? Does that magician, or his disciple, truly cause those sentient beings to become satisfied?
Śāriputra replied:
No, Blessed One! No, Well-Gone One!
The Buddha said:
Śāriputra, the Great Bodhisattva is likewise so. From the time of first generating the mind of enlightenment, in order to liberate sentient beings, they cultivate the perfection of generosity, cultivate pure morality, patience, diligence, meditative concentration, and the perfection of wisdom; abide in internal emptiness, external emptiness, internal-and-external emptiness, emptiness of emptiness, great emptiness, emptiness of ultimate meaning, emptiness of conditioned phenomena, emptiness of unconditioned phenomena, emptiness of the ultimate end, emptiness without boundaries, emptiness of dispersion, emptiness of non-transformation, emptiness of original nature, emptiness of own characteristics, emptiness of common characteristics, emptiness in all phenomena, emptiness of what cannot be grasped, emptiness of non-nature, emptiness of self-nature, and emptiness of the self-nature of emptiness; cultivate the four foundations of mindfulness, the four right efforts, the four bases of miraculous powers, the five faculties, the five powers, the seven factors of enlightenment, and the eightfold noble path; abide in the noble truth of suffering, abide in the noble truth of origin, cessation, and path; cultivate the four meditative absorptions, the four immeasurables, and the four formless absorptions; cultivate the eight liberations, the eight spheres of mastery, the nine successive concentrations, and the ten totalities; cultivate the dhāraṇī gateways, cultivate the samādhi gateways; cultivate the liberation gateway of emptiness, cultivate the liberation gateways of signlessness and wishlessness; cultivate the stage of Supreme Joy, the stage of Stainlessness, the stage of Radiance, the stage of Blazing Wisdom, the stage of Difficult to Conquer, the stage of Manifestation, the stage of Far-Going, the stage of Immovability, the stage of Good Wisdom, and the stage of Dharma Cloud; cultivate the five types of eyes, cultivate the six superknowledges; cultivate the ten powers of the Buddha, the four fearlessnesses, the four kinds of unobstructed knowledge, great loving-kindness, great compassion, great sympathetic joy, great equanimity, and the eighteen unique qualities of the Buddha; cultivate the thirty-two marks of the Great Being, cultivate the eighty secondary characteristics; cultivate the quality of never forgetting, cultivate the nature of always equanimous giving; cultivate all-knowing wisdom, cultivate path-aspects wisdom, and all-aspects wisdom; accomplish and perfect the great path of enlightenment of the Great Bodhisattva; bring about the accomplishment of sentient beings and purify Buddha lands.
Śāriputra, although the Great Bodhisattvas perform such deeds, with regard to sentient beings and all phenomena they have absolutely no attainment, and they do not think: “I use this Dharma to teach and guide such sentient beings.”
At that time, the venerable Subhūti addressed the Buddha:
Blessed One, what is the great path of enlightenment of the Great Bodhisattvas? How do the Great Bodhisattvas cultivate according to that path, with skillful means, bring about the accomplishment of sentient beings, and purify Buddha lands?
The Buddha said:
Subhūti, from the time of first generating the mind of enlightenment, the Great Bodhisattvas have cultivated the perfection of generosity, have practiced pure morality, patience, diligence, meditative concentration, and the perfection of wisdom; have practiced internal emptiness, external emptiness, internal-and-external emptiness, emptiness of emptiness, great emptiness, emptiness of ultimate meaning, emptiness of conditioned phenomena, emptiness of unconditioned phenomena, emptiness of the ultimate end, emptiness without boundaries, emptiness of dispersion, emptiness of non-transformation, emptiness of original nature, emptiness of own characteristics, emptiness of common characteristics, emptiness in all phenomena, emptiness of what cannot be grasped, emptiness of non-nature, emptiness of self-nature, and emptiness of the self-nature of emptiness; have practiced the four foundations of mindfulness, the four right efforts, the four bases of miraculous powers, the five faculties, the five powers, the seven factors of enlightenment, and the eightfold noble path; have practiced the noble truth of suffering, have practiced the noble truths of origin, cessation, and path; have practiced the four meditative absorptions, the four immeasurables, and the four formless absorptions; have practiced the eight liberations, the eight spheres of mastery, the nine successive concentrations, and the ten totalities; have practiced the dhāraṇī gateways, have practiced the samādhi gateways; have practiced the liberation gateway of emptiness, have practiced the liberation gateways of signlessness and wishlessness; have practiced the stage of Supreme Joy, the stage of Stainlessness, the stage of Radiance, the stage of Blazing Wisdom, the stage of Difficult to Conquer, the stage of Manifestation, the stage of Far-Going, the stage of Immovability, the stage of Good Wisdom, and the stage of Dharma Cloud; have practiced the five types of eyes, have practiced the six superknowledges; have practiced the ten powers of the Buddha, the four fearlessnesses, the four kinds of unobstructed knowledge, great loving-kindness, great compassion, great sympathetic joy, great equanimity, and the eighteen unique qualities of the Buddha; have practiced the thirty-two marks of the Great Being, have practiced the eighty secondary characteristics; have practiced the quality of never forgetting, have practiced the nature of always equanimous giving; have practiced all-knowing wisdom, path-aspects wisdom, all-aspects wisdom, and the countless, boundless other Buddha Dharmas. All of these together are the path of cultivation leading to the great enlightenment of the Great Bodhisattvas. The Great Bodhisattvas cultivate according to this path, and with skillful means bring about the accomplishment of sentient beings and purify Buddha lands without the concept of sentient beings or Buddha lands…
The venerable Subhūti addressed the Buddha:
Blessed One, how does a Great Bodhisattva, while cultivating the perfection of generosity, with skillful means bring about the accomplishment of sentient beings?
The Buddha said:
Subhūti, there is a Great Bodhisattva who, while cultivating the perfection of generosity, with skillful means practices generosity themselves, also encourages others to practice generosity, and earnestly instructs and teaches them: “Good sons, do not become attached to generosity. If you become attached to generosity, you will again receive a body; if you again receive a body, because of this you will successively undergo countless great and intense sufferings. Good sons, in the ultimate truth there is completely no generosity, no giver, no recipient, no thing given, and no result of generosity. Phenomena such as these are all empty in their original nature. Within that original emptiness, no phenomenon can be grasped, and the emptiness of phenomena likewise cannot be grasped.”
Subhūti, thus, when the Great Bodhisattvas cultivate the perfection of generosity, although toward sentient beings they practice generosity themselves and encourage others to practice generosity, regarding generosity, the giver, the recipient, the thing given, and the result of generosity, all are without attainment. Such perfection of generosity is called the perfection of generosity without attainment. Although that Great Bodhisattva has no attainment regarding these phenomena, through skillful means they are able to teach and transform sentient beings so that they attain the fruits of Stream-enterer, Once-returner, Non-returner, Arhat, or the state of Pratyekabuddha, or turn toward unsurpassed perfect enlightenment.
Subhūti, thus, when the Great Bodhisattvas cultivate the perfection of generosity, relying upon the Dharma of generosity, they bring about the accomplishment of sentient beings and cause them to attain happiness.
Subhūti, that Great Bodhisattva practices the perfection of generosity themselves and also encourages others to practice the perfection of generosity; wisely praises the practice of the perfection of generosity and rejoices in praising those who practice the perfection of generosity.
Subhūti, after that Great Bodhisattva cultivates the perfection of generosity, they may be born into a great lineage equal to the Kṣatriya caste, or born into a great lineage equal to the Brahmin caste, or born into a great lineage equal to merchants, or born into a great lineage equal to householders; or they may become a petty king of a small country, wealthy and powerful; or become a great king of a large country, wealthy and powerful; or become a universal monarch ruling over the four continents, wealthy and powerful.
Subhūti, when that Great Bodhisattva is born into such noble places, they use the four methods of gathering to teach and subdue sentient beings. What are the four? First is generosity, second is loving speech, third is beneficial conduct, and fourth is cooperation. When that Great Bodhisattva uses the four methods of gathering to teach and subdue sentient beings, they first instruct sentient beings to abide in generosity, and from there gradually cause them to abide in pure morality, patience, diligence, meditative concentration, and the perfection of wisdom; then cause them to abide in the four foundations of mindfulness, the four right efforts, the four bases of miraculous powers, the five faculties, the five powers, the seven factors of enlightenment, and the eightfold noble path; then cause them to abide in the emptiness samādhi, the signless samādhi, and the wishless samādhi. After that Great Bodhisattva causes sentient beings to abide in such wholesome Dharmas, they either cause them to enter the right nature of liberation from arising and attain the fruits of Stream-enterer, Once-returner, Non-returner, and Arhat; or cause them to enter the right nature of liberation from arising and gradually attain the fruit of Pratyekabuddha; or cause them to enter the right nature of liberation from arising and gradually cultivate the stages of the Bodhisattva, quickly reaching unsurpassed perfect enlightenment. They further tell them: “Good sons, you should generate great vows and quickly proceed toward unsurpassed perfect enlightenment, so that sentient beings may receive benefit and happiness. The objects to which sentient beings cling are phenomena that completely have no self-nature, but merely due to false and inverted conceptualization are regarded as existing. Therefore, you should always diligently and energetically cut off your own inversions, and you should also teach others so that they escape birth and death, attain benefit themselves, and teach others so that they attain benefit.”
Subhūti, the Great Bodhisattvas should always train in the perfection of generosity in this way. Through this perfection of generosity, from the time of first generating the mind of enlightenment until reaching the ultimate end, they do not fall into evil destinies. In order to bring benefit to all kinds of sentient beings, they are mostly born in the human realm as universal monarchs. Why? Because according to the wondrous power of the causes they have cultivated, they attain such results. That is, when that Great Bodhisattva is a universal monarch and sees a beggar approaching, they think: “For what reason do I continue to wander in birth and death and become a universal monarch? Is it not because I wish to bring benefit and happiness to sentient beings that I remain within birth and death and receive this excellent karmic result, and not because of anything else?” Having thought this, they say to the beggar: “Whatever you need, I will give you all of it. When you take these things, regard it as taking your own possessions; do not think they belong to anyone else. Why? Because through you I have attained benefit, have received this body together with the accumulated and preserved wealth and resources. Therefore, these possessions belong to you. Take them as you wish, either use them yourself or give them to others; do not have any doubt.”
When that Great Bodhisattva has such compassion for sentient beings, because the mind of great compassion has no object or limitation, it quickly becomes perfected. Because that mind of great compassion quickly becomes perfected, although they constantly bring benefit and happiness to countless sentient beings, regarding sentient beings they have no attainment whatsoever; they also do not grasp the excellent result they attain. They always know truly that it is only through false conception and according to convention that the designation of benefiting sentient beings is spoken of. They further know truly that such designations are all like echoes, although they appear as if they exist, they are not real. Therefore, they do not cling to any phenomena.
Subhūti, the Great Bodhisattvas should always practice the perfection of generosity in this way. This means that toward sentient beings they have absolutely no attachment or reluctance, to the point that they can even give away the flesh and bones of their own bodies; how much more so can they give up external wealth and possessions—those resources used to teach and guide sentient beings, causing them to quickly escape birth, old age, sickness, and death.
At that time, the venerable Subhūti addressed the Buddha:
O World-Honored One, what kinds of treasures do Great Bodhisattvas use to teach and guide sentient beings, causing them to quickly escape birth, aging, illness, and death?
The Buddha said:
Good Present, they are treasures such as the Perfection of Giving; or treasures such as Pure Morality, Patience, Diligence, Meditative Concentration, and the Perfection of Prajna; or treasures that are the emptiness of the internal, or treasures that are the emptiness of the external, the emptiness of both internal and external, the emptiness of emptiness, the great emptiness, the emptiness of ultimate meaning, the emptiness of conditioned phenomena, the emptiness of unconditioned phenomena, the emptiness of the ultimate, the emptiness without boundaries, the emptiness of dispersion, the emptiness of non-alteration, the emptiness of intrinsic nature, the emptiness of own characteristics, the emptiness of common characteristics, the emptiness throughout all phenomena, the emptiness of that which cannot be apprehended, the emptiness of non-existence, the emptiness of self-nature, and the emptiness of the self-nature of non-existence; or treasures that are the four Foundations of Mindfulness, the four Right Efforts, the four Bases of Supernatural Powers, the five Faculties, the five Powers, the seven Factors of Enlightenment, and the Noble Eightfold Path; or treasures that are the Noble Truth of suffering, the Noble Truth of origin, cessation, and path; or treasures that are the four meditative absorptions, the four immeasurables, and the four formless concentrations; or treasures that are the eight liberations, the eight bases of mastery, the nine successive concentrations, and the ten totalities; or treasures that are the dharani gateways, or treasures that are the samadhi gateways; or treasures that are the liberation gateway of emptiness, or the liberation gateways of signlessness and wishlessness; or treasures that are the stage of Supreme Joy, the stage of Freedom from Defilement, the stage of Radiance, the stage of Blazing Wisdom, the stage of Difficult-to-Conquer, the stage of Manifestation, the stage of Far-Going, the stage of Immovability, the stage of Excellent Wisdom, and the stage of Dharma Cloud; or treasures that are the five kinds of eyes, or treasures that are the six supernatural powers; or treasures that are the ten powers of the Buddha, the four fearlessnesses, the four unobstructed knowledges, great Loving-kindness, great Compassion, great Joy, great Equanimity, and the eighteen unique qualities of Buddhas; or treasures that are the non-forgetting dharma, or treasures that are the nature of constant equanimity; or treasures that are Omniscient Wisdom, or treasures that are Wisdom of Knowing the Paths and Wisdom of Knowing All Aspects; or treasures that are the fruit of Stream-enterer, or treasures that are the fruits of Once-returner, Non-returner, Arhat, the state of Pratyekabuddha; or treasures that are all practices of Great Bodhisattvas; or treasures that are the supreme unsurpassed Enlightenment of all Buddhas.
Good Present, such treasures are used to teach and guide sentient beings, causing them to quickly escape birth, aging, illness, and death. Great Bodhisattvas constantly use such kinds of treasures to teach and guide sentient beings, causing them to quickly escape birth, aging, illness, and death, and attain great benefit.
Furthermore, Good Present, Great Bodhisattvas abiding in the Perfection of Giving, practicing the Perfection of Giving themselves and encouraging sentient beings to practice the Perfection of Giving, then seeing sentient beings who violate pure morality, feel immeasurable compassion for them and say:
“All of you should uphold pure morality. I will fully provide for you. If you need food and drink, clothing, bedding, dwellings, vehicles, mani jewels, pearls, vaidurya jewels, crystal jewels, indranila gems, great blue gems, gold, silver, jade, conch shells, coral, and other precious jewels, as well as fragrances, flowers, banners, canopies, medicines for treating illness, and other necessities, I will provide all of them without lacking anything. Because you lack the necessities of life, you have violated pure morality and created harmful karmic actions. I will provide whatever necessities you lack, from food and drink to medicine for curing illness and all other shortages. Abiding in restraint and morality, you will gradually be able to escape the cycle of suffering, whether by relying on the Hearer Vehicle and attaining liberation, relying on the Pratyekabuddha Vehicle and attaining liberation, or relying on the Unsurpassed Vehicle and attaining liberation.”
Good Present, that Great Bodhisattva, abiding in the Perfection of Giving, upholds pure morality himself, also encourages others to uphold pure morality, wholeheartedly praises the teaching of upholding pure morality, and rejoices in praising those who uphold pure morality.
Good Present, in this way, Great Bodhisattvas practicing the Perfection of Prajna encourage sentient beings to abide in pure morality, become liberated from birth and death, and attain supreme benefit and happiness.
Furthermore, Good Present, Great Bodhisattvas abiding in the Perfection of Giving, seeing sentient beings constantly angry with one another, feel immeasurable compassion and say to them:
“For what reason do you become angry with one another? If it is because of lacking necessities that you commit these harmful acts together, then come and tell me. I will help you. Whatever you need—food and drink, clothing, bedding, dwellings, vehicles, servants, jewels, fragrances, flowers, medicine for treating illness, beautiful music, banners, canopies, jeweled necklaces, lamps, and other necessities—I will provide all of them so that you are not lacking. You should not be angry with one another, but should cultivate the Dharma of patience and also generate loving-kindness.”
Good Present, that Great Bodhisattva, abiding in the Perfection of Giving, encourages sentient beings to practice the Perfection of Patience, and wishing to make their practice firm, says to them:
“The causes and conditions that give rise to anger are entirely unreal; they arise only from false conceptual discrimination. Since all phenomena have emptiness as their intrinsic nature, why do you become angry toward what is not truly existent, insult one another, and use knives and sticks to harm each other? You should not rely on false conceptual discrimination to give rise to anger and create harmful karma. You will fall into hell realms, animal realms, ghost realms, and other unfortunate places, experiencing countless intense and fierce sufferings. Do not cling to things that do not truly exist and give rise to anger, thereby creating such sinful actions. Because of creating these sinful actions, even attaining an inferior human body will be difficult, let alone being born in a Buddha world. You should know that obtaining a human body is difficult, encountering a Buddha in the world is difficult, and generating faith is even more difficult. Now you have all these favorable conditions; do not lose this excellent opportunity because of anger. If you lose this excellent opportunity, it will be difficult to save yourselves. Therefore, toward sentient beings, you should not give rise to anger, but should cultivate patience.”
Good Present, that Great Bodhisattva, abiding in the Perfection of Giving, practices patience himself, also encourages others to practice patience, greatly praises the practice of patience, and rejoices in praising those who practice patience.
Good Present, in this way, Great Bodhisattvas abiding in the Perfection of Giving encourage sentient beings to practice patience. Because of this, sentient beings gradually, step by step, rely on the three vehicles and attain liberation: either relying on the Hearer Vehicle and attaining liberation, relying on the Pratyekabuddha Vehicle and attaining liberation, or relying on the Great Vehicle and attaining liberation.
Furthermore, Good Present, Great Bodhisattvas abiding in the Perfection of Giving, seeing sentient beings lazy in body and mind, feel immeasurable compassion and say to them:
“For what reason do you not diligently cultivate wholesome dharmas but instead become lazy?”
They reply:
“We lack various necessities, therefore we cannot wholeheartedly cultivate wholesome practices.”
The Bodhisattva says:
“I can provide you with the necessities you lack. You should diligently cultivate giving, pure morality, patience, and so forth.”
At that time, the sentient beings receive the necessities provided by the Bodhisattva. No longer lacking anything, their bodies and minds are able to generate diligence and cultivate wholesome dharmas, quickly bringing them to completion. Because wholesome dharmas become complete, unconditioned dharmas gradually arise. Through unconditioned dharmas, they realize either the fruit of Stream-enterer, Once-returner, Non-returner, or Arhat; or attain the fruit of Pratyekabuddha; or some enter the stages of Bodhisattvas and gradually attain supreme unsurpassed Enlightenment.
Good Present, that Great Bodhisattva, abiding in the Perfection of Giving, practices diligence himself, also encourages others to practice diligence, greatly praises the practice of diligence, and rejoices in praising those who practice diligence.
Good Present, in this way, Great Bodhisattvas abiding in the Perfection of Giving cause sentient beings to abandon laziness, diligently cultivate wholesome activities, and quickly attain liberation.
Furthermore, Good Present, Great Bodhisattvas abiding in the Perfection of Giving, seeing sentient beings whose minds are constantly scattered and who lose mindfulness, feel immeasurable compassion and say:
“For what reason do you not cultivate meditative concentration, allowing your minds to become scattered and losing mindfulness, continually sinking in birth and death?”
They reply:
“We lack the necessary resources, therefore we cannot cultivate meditative concentration.”
The Bodhisattva says:
“I can provide the necessities you lack. From now on, you should not generate false calculations and thoughts, relying on and clinging to internal and external things that disturb your own minds.”
At that time, the sentient beings receive the necessities provided by the Bodhisattva. No longer lacking anything, they are able to restrain and eliminate false thoughts, enter the first meditative absorption, and gradually enter the second, third, and fourth meditative absorptions. Relying on these absorptions, they can generate the four immeasurable minds of Loving-kindness, Compassion, Joy, and Equanimity; they can attain the immeasurable meditative absorptions as their objects. Gradually, they can also enter the four formless concentrations. Through meditative absorption, immeasurables, and formless attainments, their minds are subdued and become gentle. They then cultivate the four Foundations of Mindfulness, the four Right Efforts, the four Bases of Supernatural Powers, the five Faculties, the five Powers, the seven Factors of Enlightenment, the Noble Eightfold Path, the liberation gateways of Emptiness, Signlessness, and Wishlessness, and countless other wholesome dharmas. According to their capacities, they attain the fruits of the three vehicles: either the Nirvana of Pratyekabuddhas, or the supreme unsurpassed Enlightenment.
Good Present, that Great Bodhisattva, abiding in the Perfection of Giving, cultivates meditative concentration himself, also encourages others to cultivate meditative concentration, wholeheartedly praises the practice of meditative concentration, and rejoices in praising those who cultivate meditative concentration.
Good Present, in this way, Great Bodhisattvas abiding in the Perfection of Giving encourage sentient beings to abandon distraction and cultivate meditative concentrations, creating great benefit.
Furthermore, Good Present, Great Bodhisattvas abiding in the Perfection of Giving, seeing sentient beings who are ignorant and deluded, feel immeasurable compassion and say:
“For what reason do you not cultivate Prajna, remaining ignorant and deluded and having to wander endlessly in birth and death?”
They reply:
“We lack various necessities, therefore we cannot cultivate supreme wisdom.”
The Bodhisattva says:
“I can provide the necessities you lack. You should receive them. First cultivate and perfect the Perfections of Giving, Pure Morality, Patience, Diligence, Meditative Concentration, and Prajna. Having perfected them, carefully contemplate the true nature of all phenomena and cultivate the Perfection of Prajna. At that time, you should carefully observe whether there is even the slightest phenomenon that can be apprehended.
That is: whether self, sentient being, life continuum, producer, nourisher, growth, agent of transmigration, mind-born, child-like being, doer, one who causes others to act, creator of karma, one who causes others to create karma, experiencer of karmic results, one who causes others to experience karmic results, knower, one who causes others to know, seer, or one who causes others to see, can be apprehended.
Or whether form, feeling, perception, formations, consciousness can be apprehended.
Or whether the eye faculty, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind faculties can be apprehended.
Or whether the objects of form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and dharmas can be apprehended.
Or whether the eye element, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind elements can be apprehended.
Or whether the elements of form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and dharmas can be apprehended.
Or whether the eye consciousness element, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind consciousness elements can be apprehended.
Or whether eye contact, ear contact, nose contact, tongue contact, body contact, and mind contact can be apprehended.
Or whether feelings arising dependent on eye contact, or feelings arising dependent on ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind contact, can be apprehended.
Or whether the earth element, water, fire, wind, space, and consciousness elements can be apprehended.
Or whether causes and conditions, equal uninterrupted conditions, objective conditions, and dominant conditions can be apprehended.
Or whether phenomena arising from conditions can be apprehended.
Or whether ignorance, formations, consciousness, name-and-form, the six sense bases, contact, feeling, craving, grasping, existence, birth, aging and death, sorrow, lamentation, suffering, grief, and distress can be apprehended.
Or whether the Perfection of Giving, Pure Morality, Patience, Diligence, Meditative Concentration, and Prajna can be apprehended.
Or whether the emptiness of the internal, emptiness of the external, emptiness of both internal and external, emptiness of emptiness, great emptiness, emptiness of ultimate meaning, emptiness of conditioned phenomena, emptiness of unconditioned phenomena, emptiness of the ultimate, emptiness without boundaries, emptiness of dispersion, emptiness of non-alteration, emptiness of intrinsic nature, emptiness of own characteristics, emptiness of common characteristics, emptiness throughout all phenomena, emptiness of that which cannot be apprehended, emptiness of non-existence, emptiness of self-nature, and emptiness of the self-nature of non-existence can be apprehended.
Or whether the four Foundations of Mindfulness, four Right Efforts, four Bases of Supernatural Powers, five Faculties, five Powers, seven Factors of Enlightenment, and Noble Eightfold Path can be apprehended.
Or whether the Noble Truth of suffering, or the Noble Truths of origin, cessation, and path can be apprehended.
Or whether the four meditative absorptions, four immeasurables, and four formless concentrations can be apprehended.
Or whether the eight liberations, eight bases of mastery, nine successive concentrations, and ten totalities can be apprehended.
Or whether the dharani gateways or samadhi gateways can be apprehended.
Or whether the liberation gateways of emptiness, signlessness, and wishlessness can be apprehended.
Or whether the stages of Supreme Joy, Freedom from Defilement, Radiance, Blazing Wisdom, Difficult-to-Conquer, Manifestation, Far-Going, Immovability, Excellent Wisdom, and Dharma Cloud can be apprehended.
Or whether the five kinds of eyes or six supernatural powers can be apprehended.
Or whether the ten powers of the Buddha, four fearlessnesses, four unobstructed knowledges, great Loving-kindness, great Compassion, great Joy, great Equanimity, and eighteen unique qualities of Buddhas can be apprehended.
Or whether the non-forgetting dharma or nature of constant equanimity can be apprehended.
Or whether Omniscient Wisdom, Wisdom of Knowing the Paths, and Wisdom of Knowing All Aspects can be apprehended.
Or whether the fruits of Stream-enterer, Once-returner, Non-returner, Arhat, and Pratyekabuddha can be apprehended.
Or whether all practices of Great Bodhisattvas or the supreme unsurpassed Enlightenment of Buddhas can be apprehended?”
Those sentient beings, having received the necessities and no longer lacking anything, rely on the teachings of the Bodhisattva. First they cultivate Giving, Pure Morality, Patience, Diligence, and Meditative Concentration, perfecting them, and then carefully contemplate the true nature of all phenomena and cultivate the Perfection of Prajna. When they contemplate the true nature of phenomena as previously described, they see that all cannot be apprehended. Because they cannot be apprehended, there is no attachment. Because there is no attachment, they do not see any tiny phenomenon that arises, ceases, becomes defiled, or becomes pure.
When they have no attainment regarding phenomena, they do not give rise to discriminations regarding any realm. That is, they do not distinguish: “This is hell, this is the animal realm, this is the ghost realm, this is Asura, this is human, this is heavenly; this is one who upholds morality, this is one who violates morality; this is an ordinary being, this is a noble being; this is a Stream-enterer, this is a Once-returner, this is a Non-returner, this is an Arhat, this is a Pratyekabuddha, this is a Bodhisattva, this is a Tathagata; this is conditioned phenomena, this is unconditioned phenomena.”
Because all such discriminations are completely ended, according to their capacities they gradually attain the Nirvana of the three vehicles: the Hearer Vehicle, the Pratyekabuddha Vehicle, or the Unsurpassed Vehicle.
Good Present, that Great Bodhisattva abiding in the Perfection of Giving cultivates Prajna himself, also encourages others to cultivate Prajna, wholeheartedly praises the practice of Prajna, and rejoices in praising those who cultivate Prajna.
Good Present, in this way, Great Bodhisattvas abiding in the Perfection of Giving encourage sentient beings to cultivate Prajna, causing them to attain supreme benefit and happiness.
Furthermore, Good Present, Great Bodhisattvas abiding in the Perfection of Giving themselves practice Giving, Pure Morality, Patience, Diligence, Meditative Concentration, and Prajna, and also encourage others to practice Giving, Pure Morality, Patience, Diligence, Meditative Concentration, and Prajna. Then seeing sentient beings wandering in various realms and undergoing immeasurable suffering, not yet liberated, wishing to cause them to escape suffering in birth and death, they first use various material resources to benefit them, and afterward use unconditioned transcendent dharmas, with skillful means, to teach and guide them.
Those sentient beings, having received resources and no longer lacking anything, with body and mind courageous, are certainly able to abide in the emptiness of the internal, emptiness of the external, emptiness of both internal and external, emptiness of emptiness, great emptiness, emptiness of ultimate meaning, emptiness of conditioned phenomena, emptiness of unconditioned phenomena, emptiness of the ultimate, emptiness without boundaries, emptiness of dispersion, emptiness of non-alteration, emptiness of intrinsic nature, emptiness of own characteristics, emptiness of common characteristics, emptiness throughout all phenomena, emptiness of that which cannot be apprehended, emptiness of non-existence, emptiness of self-nature, and emptiness of the self-nature of non-existence.
They are also able to cultivate the four Foundations of Mindfulness, four Right Efforts, four Bases of Supernatural Powers, five Faculties, five Powers, seven Factors of Enlightenment, and Noble Eightfold Path.
They are also able to abide in the Noble Truth of suffering, the Noble Truth of origin, cessation, and path.
They are also able to cultivate the four meditative absorptions, four immeasurables, and four formless concentrations.
They are also able to cultivate the eight liberations, eight bases of mastery, nine successive concentrations, and ten totalities.
They are also able to cultivate the dharani gateways and samadhi gateways.
They are also able to cultivate the liberation gateways of emptiness, signlessness, and wishlessness.
They are also able to cultivate the stages of Supreme Joy, Freedom from Defilement, Radiance, Blazing Wisdom, Difficult-to-Conquer, Manifestation, Far-Going, Immovability, Excellent Wisdom, and Dharma Cloud.
They are also able to cultivate the five kinds of eyes and six supernatural powers.
They are also able to cultivate the ten powers of the Buddha, four fearlessnesses, four unobstructed knowledges, great Loving-kindness, great Compassion, great Joy, great Equanimity, and eighteen unique qualities of Buddhas.
They are also able to cultivate the non-forgetting dharma and the nature of constant equanimity.
They are also able to cultivate Omniscient Wisdom, Wisdom of Knowing the Paths, and Wisdom of Knowing All Aspects. These sentient beings, by gathering and maintaining the cultivation of unconditioned dharmas, become liberated from birth and death.
Good Present, that Great Bodhisattva abiding in the Perfection of Giving practices supreme unconditioned dharmas himself, also encourages others to practice supreme unconditioned dharmas, wholeheartedly praises the practice of supreme unconditioned dharmas, and rejoices in praising those who practice supreme unconditioned dharmas.
Good Present, in this way, Great Bodhisattvas abiding in the Perfection of Giving use unconditioned dharmas to teach and guide sentient beings, causing them to escape birth and death and attain supreme benefit.