THE GREAT PRAJÑĀPĀRAMITĀ SŪTRA
Volume 402
Chapter 2: Joy
At that time, knowing that all the assemblies with karmic affinity from the various worlds had gathered together—such as devas, Māras, Brahmās, śramaṇas, brāhmaṇas, gandharvas, asuras, dragons, spirits, humans, non-human beings, and the great Bodhisattvas abiding in their final existence before inheriting the noble position—the World-Honored One said to the Venerable Śāriputra:
“If great Bodhisattvas wish to fully understand all the characteristics of all dharmas, they should study Prajñāpāramitā.”
At that moment, Śāriputra rejoiced greatly. Rising from his seat, he bowed before the Buddha, bared his right shoulder, knelt with his right knee on the ground, joined his palms respectfully, and said:
“World-Honored One, how should a Bodhisattva who wishes to fully understand all the characteristics of all dharmas study Prajñāpāramitā?”
The Buddha said to the Venerable Śāriputra:
“Great Bodhisattvas should abide in Prajñāpāramitā by means of non-abiding, because neither the one who abides nor that in which one abides can be grasped. They should perfect the Pāramitā of Giving by means of non-abandonment, because the giver, the recipient, and the gift cannot be grasped. They should perfect the Pāramitā of Moral Discipline by means of non-protection, because transgression and non-transgression cannot be grasped. They should perfect the Pāramitā of Patience by means of non-grasping, because movement and non-movement cannot be grasped. They should perfect the Pāramitā of Diligence by means of non-striving, because diligence and laziness of body and mind cannot be grasped. They should perfect the Pāramitā of Meditation by means of non-conceptuality, because conditioned and unconditioned states cannot be grasped. They should perfect the Pāramitā of Wisdom by means of non-attachment, because the characteristics and nature of all dharmas cannot be grasped.
“Furthermore, Śāriputra, great Bodhisattvas abiding in Prajñāpāramitā should cultivate the Four Foundations of Mindfulness, the Four Right Efforts, the Four Bases of Spiritual Power, the Five Faculties, the Five Powers, the Seven Factors of Enlightenment, and the Noble Eightfold Path by means of non-attainment, because these thirty-seven factors of enlightenment cannot be grasped.
“They should cultivate the Samādhi of Emptiness, the Samādhi of Signlessness, and the Samādhi of Wishlessness by means of non-attainment, because these three concentrations cannot be grasped.
“They should cultivate the Four Meditations, the Four Immeasurables, and the Four Formless Absorptions by means of non-attainment, because these meditations, immeasurable states, and formless attainments cannot be grasped.
“They should cultivate the Eight Liberations, the Eight Masteries, the Nine Successive Meditative Attainments, and the Ten Totality Meditations by means of non-attainment, because these liberations, masteries, meditative attainments, and totality meditations cannot be grasped.
“They should cultivate the nine contemplations: contemplation of bloating, decomposition with oozing, discoloration, bluish discoloration, being devoured, dismemberment, skeletons, burning, and complete decay, because such contemplations cannot be grasped.
“They should cultivate the ten recollections: recollection of the Buddha, Dharma, Sangha, morality, generosity, the devas, breathing, revulsion, death, and the body, because these recollections cannot be grasped.
“They should cultivate the ten perceptions: impermanence, suffering, non-self, impurity, death, the unsatisfactoriness of the entire world, disgust toward food, cessation, detachment, and extinction, because these perceptions cannot be grasped.
“They should cultivate the eleven kinds of knowledge: knowledge of suffering, origin, cessation, the path, exhaustion, non-arising, Dharma knowledge, inferential knowledge, worldly knowledge, knowledge of others’ minds, and knowledge according to teaching, because these knowledges cannot be grasped.
“They should cultivate samādhi with initial and sustained thought, samādhi without initial thought but with sustained thought, and samādhi without either initial or sustained thought, because these three samādhis cannot be grasped.
“They should cultivate the faculty of one who is to know, the faculty of one who has known, and the faculty of one who fully knows, because these three undefiled faculties cannot be grasped.
“They should cultivate contemplation of impurity, contemplation of totality, omniscient knowledge, śamatha, vipaśyanā, the Four Means of Embracing Others, the Four Supreme Abidings, the Three Knowledges, the Five Eyes, the Six Supernormal Powers, the Six Pāramitās, the Seven Noble Treasures, the Eight Awakenings of Great Beings, the Nine Abodes of Sentient Beings, all dhāraṇī gateways, all samādhi gateways, the Ten Grounds, the Ten Practices, the Ten Patiences, the Twenty Superior Aspirations, the Ten Powers of the Tathāgata, the Four Fearlessnesses, the Four Unobstructed Knowledges, the Eighteen Unique Qualities of a Buddha, the Thirty-two Marks of a Great Person, the Eighty Minor Characteristics, non-forgetfulness, constant equanimity, omniscient knowledge, knowledge of the path, knowledge of all aspects, subtle knowledge of all aspects, great loving-kindness, great compassion, great joy, great equanimity, and immeasurable, boundless other Buddha-dharmas, because all such dharmas cannot be grasped.
“Furthermore, Śāriputra, if a great Bodhisattva wishes to quickly attain omniscient knowledge, he should study Prajñāpāramitā. If he wishes to quickly perfect knowledge, knowledge of all paths, and knowledge of all aspects, he should study Prajñāpāramitā. If he wishes to quickly perfect knowledge of the mental conduct of all beings and the subtle knowledge of all aspects, he should study Prajñāpāramitā. If he wishes to eliminate all habitual tendencies and afflictions, he should study Prajñāpāramitā. If he wishes to enter the true nature free from arising, he should study Prajñāpāramitā. If he wishes to transcend the stages of the Śrāvakas and Pratyekabuddhas, he should study Prajñāpāramitā. If he wishes to abide in the irreversible stage of a Bodhisattva, he should study Prajñāpāramitā. If he wishes to attain the supreme six supernormal powers, he should study Prajñāpāramitā. If he wishes to know the various destinations of the mental activities of all beings, he should study Prajñāpāramitā. If he wishes to surpass the wisdom of all Śrāvakas and Pratyekabuddhas, he should study Prajñāpāramitā.
“If he wishes to attain all dhāraṇī gateways and all samādhi gateways, he should study Prajñāpāramitā. If he wishes, with a single thought of rejoicing, to surpass the generosity of all Śrāvakas and Pratyekabuddhas, he should study Prajñāpāramitā. If he wishes, with a single thought of rejoicing, to surpass the morality of all Śrāvakas and Pratyekabuddhas, he should study Prajñāpāramitā. If he wishes, with a single thought of rejoicing, to surpass the concentration, wisdom, liberation, and knowledge-and-vision of liberation of all Śrāvakas and Pratyekabuddhas, he should study Prajñāpāramitā. If he wishes, with a single thought of rejoicing, to surpass the meditations, liberations, samādhis, attainments, and other wholesome qualities of all Śrāvakas and Pratyekabuddhas, he should study Prajñāpāramitā. If he wishes that even a small amount of generosity, morality, patience, diligence, meditation, and wisdom practiced for the sake of sentient beings, skillfully dedicated to unsurpassed enlightenment, will produce immeasurable and boundless merit, he should study Prajñāpāramitā.
“Furthermore, Śāriputra, if a great Bodhisattva wishes the practice of generosity, morality, patience, diligence, meditation, and wisdom to be free from obstacles and quickly perfected, he should study Prajñāpāramitā. If he wishes in every lifetime to encounter Buddhas, hear the true Dharma, be awakened, remembered, instructed, and guided by Buddhas, he should study Prajñāpāramitā. If he wishes to attain the Buddha’s body adorned with the thirty-two marks of a Great Man and the eighty minor characteristics, he should study Prajñāpāramitā. If he wishes always to remember the Bodhi-mind of previous lives without forgetting it, to avoid evil companions, associate with good friends, and constantly practice the conduct of great Bodhisattvas, he should study Prajñāpāramitā. If he wishes in every lifetime to possess great spiritual power to subdue Māras and defeat heretics, he should study Prajñāpāramitā. If he wishes to be forever free from afflictions and karmic obstacles, understand all dharmas, and have an unobstructed mind, he should study Prajñāpāramitā. If he wishes to maintain wholesome thoughts, aspirations, and conduct continuously without laziness, he should study Prajñāpāramitā. If he wishes to be born into the Buddha’s family, enter the stage of true heirs, and never be separated from Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, he should study Prajñāpāramitā. If he wishes in every lifetime to possess all the Buddha’s excellent marks so that all beings rejoice on seeing him and awaken the aspiration for unsurpassed enlightenment, he should study Prajñāpāramitā.
“Furthermore, Śāriputra, if a Bodhisattva wishes to establish all beings throughout space and the Dharma realm in generosity, morality, patience, diligence, meditation, and wisdom, he should study Prajñāpāramitā…”
[The discourse continues in the same repetitive pattern, repeatedly stating that whatever supreme virtue, realization, supernormal ability, vow, compassionate activity, or Buddha-quality a Bodhisattva wishes to accomplish, he should study Prajñāpāramitā because all dharmas are ultimately ungraspable.]
Eventually, Śāriputra asked:
“World-Honored One, do great Bodhisattvas need to have parents, spouses, children, and close companions?”
The Buddha replied:
“Śāriputra, there are Bodhisattvas who have parents, wives, children, and relatives, yet still cultivate the practices of a Great Bodhisattva. There are also Great Bodhisattvas who have no wife or children, and from the moment they first arouse the aspiration until they attain Buddhahood, they always practice the pure life, remaining celibate throughout. There are also Great Bodhisattvas who, through skillful means, manifest themselves as enjoying the five sensual desires, then become disillusioned, leave the household life, and finally attain supreme enlightenment.
“Śāriputra, it is like a magician or the magician’s apprentice, skilled in the art of illusion, who creates the appearance of the five sensual pleasures and delights in them together. What do you think? Are those illusory creations real?”
Śāriputra replied:
“World-Honored One, they are not.”
The Buddha said:
“Śāriputra, the Great Bodhisattva is just like that. In order to teach and transform sentient beings, the Bodhisattva uses skillful means to manifest enjoyment of the five sensual desires. Yet this Great Bodhisattva is deeply disenchanted with those desires and is never defiled by them. Moreover, the Bodhisattva employs countless teachings to denounce sensual desires: desire is a fierce fire that burns body and mind; desire is filth that defiles oneself and others; desire is a butcher that constantly harms beings throughout the past, future, and present; desire is an enemy, always seeking opportunities to bring ruin; desire is like a grass torch, like bitter fruit, like a sharp sword, like a blazing heap of fire, like poison, like an illusion, like a dark well. In these and countless other ways, the Bodhisattva exposes the faults of sensual desire. Having clearly understood these faults, how could the Bodhisattva become attached to and indulge in them? It is solely for the benefit and education of sentient beings that the Bodhisattva, through skillful means, manifests the enjoyment of sensual pleasures.
**Chapter 3: Contemplation (1)**
At that time, Śāriputra asked:
“World-Honored One, how should Great Bodhisattvas practice Prajñāpāramitā?”
The Buddha said:
“Śāriputra, when practicing Prajñāpāramitā, a Great Bodhisattva should contemplate in this way: Although there truly is a Bodhisattva, no Bodhisattva is seen; no name ‘Bodhisattva’ is seen; no Prajñāpāramitā is seen; no name ‘Prajñāpāramitā’ is seen; no practice is seen, nor is non-practice seen. Why is this?
“Śāriputra, the intrinsic nature of the Bodhisattva is emptiness, and the name ‘Bodhisattva’ is also empty. Why? Because the intrinsic nature of form is emptiness. It is not made empty by emptiness. The emptiness of form is not separate from form; form does not depart from emptiness, nor does emptiness depart from form. Form itself is emptiness, and emptiness itself is form. Likewise, the intrinsic nature of feeling, perception, mental formations, and consciousness is emptiness. They are not made empty by emptiness. Their emptiness is not separate from them, nor are they separate from emptiness. Feeling, perception, mental formations, and consciousness are themselves emptiness, and emptiness is itself feeling, perception, mental formations, and consciousness.
“Why? Because, Śāriputra, ‘bodhi’ is merely a name; ‘sattva’ is merely a name; ‘bodhisattva’ is merely a name; ‘emptiness’ is merely a name; and form, feeling, perception, mental formations, and consciousness are merely names. Their intrinsic nature is neither arising nor ceasing, neither defiled nor pure. Thus, when a Great Bodhisattva practices Prajñāpāramitā, no arising is seen, no ceasing is seen, no defilement is seen, and no purity is seen.
“Why? Because names are only conventionally designated to distinguish phenomena. Yet once these provisional names are established, language arises based upon them, and from that language various forms of attachment arise. When practicing Prajñāpāramitā, the Great Bodhisattva sees none of these in any phenomenon and therefore gives rise to no attachment.
“Furthermore, Śāriputra, when practicing Prajñāpāramitā, a Great Bodhisattva should contemplate in this way: ‘Bodhisattva’ is only a name; ‘Buddha’ is only a name; ‘Prajñāpāramitā’ is only a name; form is only a name; feeling, perception, mental formations, and consciousness are only names; all other dharmas are likewise only names.
“Śāriputra, just as the self is merely a name and is called ‘self,’ yet in reality cannot be grasped, so too sentient being, life-stream, life principle, nurturer, one who matures, transmigrating subject, mind-born being, youth, doer, instigator, experiencer of karmic results, one who causes others to experience karma, creator of karma, one who causes others to create karma, knower, and seer are all merely names. From ‘sentient being’ to ‘seer,’ none can truly be grasped. Because they cannot be grasped, they are empty and exist only as conventional designations. All dharmas are likewise; they should not be clung to. Therefore, when practicing Prajñāpāramitā, the Great Bodhisattva sees no self, no seer, nor any intrinsic nature of all phenomena.
“Śāriputra, when a Great Bodhisattva practices Prajñāpāramitā in this way, then apart from the wisdom of all Buddhas, the wisdom of all Śrāvakas and Pratyekabuddhas cannot compare with it, because it cannot be grasped and is therefore empty. Why? Because this Great Bodhisattva attains nothing with regard to names or what depends upon names. Seeing nothing to grasp, there is no attachment.
“Śāriputra, if a Great Bodhisattva can practice Prajñāpāramitā in this way, then that is truly called skillful practice of Prajñāpāramitā.
“Śāriputra, suppose your wisdom and that of Mahāmaudgalyāyana were as numerous as the grains of rice, sesame seeds, bamboo, reeds, sugarcane, and forests filling the entire continent of Jambudvīpa. Compared with the wisdom of a Great Bodhisattva practicing Prajñāpāramitā, they would not equal one hundredth, one thousandth, one hundred-thousandth, one hundred-millionth, one billionth, one hundred-thousand billionth, or even the smallest conceivable fraction. Why? Because the wisdom of this Great Bodhisattva is capable of leading all sentient beings toward Nirvāṇa, whereas the wisdom of all Śrāvakas and Pratyekabuddhas cannot do so.
“Furthermore, Śāriputra, the wisdom cultivated by a Great Bodhisattva practicing Prajñāpāramitā for just one day cannot be matched by the combined wisdom of all Śrāvakas and Pratyekabuddhas.
“Śāriputra, suppose throughout Jambudvīpa there were people with wisdom like yours and Mahāmaudgalyāyana’s, as numerous as the grains of rice, sesame, bamboo, reeds, sugarcane, and forests filling the four great continents. Compared with the wisdom of a Great Bodhisattva practicing Prajñāpāramitā, they would not equal one hundredth, one thousandth, one hundred-thousandth, or even the smallest conceivable fraction. Why? Because the wisdom of this Great Bodhisattva can lead all sentient beings toward Nirvāṇa, whereas the wisdom of all Śrāvakas and Pratyekabuddhas cannot.
“Furthermore, Śāriputra, the wisdom cultivated by a Great Bodhisattva practicing Prajñāpāramitā for just one day cannot be matched by the wisdom of all Śrāvakas and Pratyekabuddhas.
“Śāriputra, suppose throughout the four great continents your wisdom and Mahāmaudgalyāyana’s were as numerous as the grains of rice, sesame, bamboo, reeds, sugarcane, and forests filling the entire trichiliocosm. Compared with the wisdom of a Great Bodhisattva practicing Prajñāpāramitā, they would not equal one hundredth, one thousandth, one hundred-thousandth, or even the smallest conceivable fraction. Why? Because the wisdom of this Great Bodhisattva can lead all sentient beings toward Nirvāṇa. The wisdom of all Śrāvakas and Pratyekabuddhas cannot do so.
“Furthermore, Śāriputra, the wisdom cultivated by a Great Bodhisattva practicing Prajñāpāramitā for just one day cannot be matched by the wisdom of all Śrāvakas and Pratyekabuddhas.
“Śāriputra, suppose throughout the entire trichiliocosm, and even throughout the Buddha-worlds of the ten directions, your wisdom and Mahāmaudgalyāyana’s were as numerous as the grains of rice, sesame, bamboo, reeds, sugarcane, and forests filling them all. Compared with the wisdom of a Great Bodhisattva practicing Prajñāpāramitā, they would not equal one hundredth, one thousandth, one hundred-thousandth, or even the smallest conceivable fraction. Why? Because the wisdom of this Great Bodhisattva can lead all sentient beings toward Nirvāṇa, whereas the wisdom of all Śrāvakas and Pratyekabuddhas cannot.
“Furthermore, Śāriputra, the wisdom cultivated by a Great Bodhisattva practicing Prajñāpāramitā for just one day cannot be matched by the wisdom of all Śrāvakas and Pratyekabuddhas.”