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བསོད་ནམས་ཐམས་ཅད་བསྡུས་པའི་ཏིང་ངེ་འཛིན།

The Absorption That Encapsulates All Merit

Sarvapuṇyasamuccayasamādhi

འཕགས་པ་བསོད་ནམས་ཐམས་ཅད་བསྡུས་པའི་ཏིང་ངེ་འཛིན་ཅེས་བྱ་བ་ཐེག་པ་ཆེན་པོའི་མདོ།

’phags pa bsod nams thams cad bsdus pa’i ting nge ’dzin ces bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo

The Noble Mahāyāna Sūtra “The Absorption That Encapsulates All Merit”

Āryasarvapuṇyasamuccayasamādhināmamahāyānasūtra

Toh 134

Degé Kangyur, vol. 56 (mdo sde, na), folios 70.b–121.b.

Translated by the Dharmachakra Translation Committee
under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha

First published 2016
Current version v 2.1.2 (2021)
Generated by 84000 Reading Room v2.11.4

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Summary

s.1

The Absorption That Encapsulates All Merit tells the story of Vimalatejā, a strongman renowned for his physical prowess, who visits the Buddha in order to compare abilities and prove that he is the mightier of the two. He receives an unexpected, humbling riposte in the form of a teaching by the Buddha on the inconceivable magnitude of the powers of awakened beings, going well beyond mere physical strength. The discussions that then unfold‍—largely between the Buddha, Vimalatejā, and the bodhisattva Nārāyaṇa‍—touch on topics including the importance of creating merit, the centrality of learning and insight, and the question of whether renunciation entails monasticism. Above all, however, Vimalatejā is led to see that the entirety of the Great Vehicle path hinges on the practice that forms the name of the sūtra, which is nothing other than the mind of awakening (bodhicitta).

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Acknowledgments

ac.1

Translated by the Dharmachakra Translation Committee under the guidance of Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche. Zachary Beer produced the translation and wrote the introduction. Andreas Doctor compared the translation with the original Tibetan and edited the text. The translators are grateful to Khenpo Trokpa Tulku from Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling Monastery for his assistance in resolving several difficult passages.

This translation was sponsored by Shakya Dewa, and has been completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.

Introduction

i.1

Like a number of other Great Vehicle sūtras, The Absorption That Encapsulates All Merit consists of a rich and at times disjointed amalgam of stories, teachings, and conversations. Although the sūtra begins in a seemingly historical setting in the vicinity of Vaiśālī, in the course of the narration we travel throughout our world system in times past, present, and future, as well as other world systems presided over by their respective awakened beings. Beginning in the voice of a general narrator who returns to describe supernatural events from a bird’s-eye view‍—earthquakes, cascading flowers, flashes of light, and the like‍—the text for the most part unfolds as a discussion, and thus emerges from the mouths of a cast of characters with whom we are gradually acquainted. Some of these characters are familiar: the Buddha, of course, and bodhisattvas like Mañjuśrī and Nārāyaṇa, as well as the śrāvakas Maudgalyāyana and Ānanda, who make brief guest appearances in what is largely a Great Vehicle ensemble.

The Translation

The Noble Great Vehicle Sūtra

The Absorption That Encapsulates All Merit

Chapter 1

[F.70.b]

1.1

Homage to all buddhas and bodhisattvas!

1.2

Thus have I heard at one time. The Blessed One was dwelling in Vaiśālī in the mansion in Āmrapālī’s great grove, together with a great assembly of ten thousand monks. All these monks were foe-destroyers whose defilements were exhausted. They were without afflictions and controlled. Their minds were perfectly free, their insight perfectly liberated. They were noble beings, great elephants, successful and accomplished. They had laid down their burden and fulfilled their aims. They had eliminated the bondages of existence and, thanks to their correct knowledge, their minds were perfectly liberated. They had obtained supreme perfection in mastering all mental states.

Chapter 2

2.1

Then the mighty strongman Vimalatejā inquired of the Blessed One, “Blessed One, what are the instructions for attaining this absorption that encapsulates all merit?”

The Blessed One replied to the mighty strongman Vimalatejā, “Son of noble family, there is one single instruction for attaining this absorption that encapsulates all merit. What is it? It is to not forsake the omniscient mind. Son of noble family, through this instruction alone will one attain the absorption that encapsulates all merit.

Colophon

c.1

Translated, edited, and finalized by the Indian preceptors Prajñāvarman and Śīlendrabodhi, the chief editor and translator Bandé Yeshé Dé, and others.

Notes

n.1

The catalogue of the Narthang Kangyur (F.94a) says that the Tshalpa (tshal pa) catalogue lists this text as having two chapters (le’u), but that the Great Fifth Dalai Lama considered this to be a scribal error. Neverheless, the 16th century Tibetan commentator Pekar Zangpo (pad dkar bzang po, p 193) does identify a thematic distinction, writing that the first chapter deals with the nature of the absorption while the second explains its causes and the benefits of training in it. Curiously, however, both the Narthang and Degé catalogues also list the text as having no less than 50 le’u. It may be that in this and similar catalogue entries (see also Dharmachakra 2016, Introduction i.15) the term le’u is being used to denote “episodes” or “scenes,” rather than in its more usual sense of formal sections or chapters.

n.2

The fragment attests to the Sanskrit names Uttara and Vimalakīrtirāja, as it includes a small portion of their dialogue. See Salomon 2014, p. 7, and Harrison et al. 2016.

n.3

The Degé Kangyur, in common with the other Kangyurs predominantly of the Tshalpa tradition, here reads dgon par bgyi ba lta bu ni ’jig rten gnas pa lags so, which is difficult to interpret in the context. This (and some other details of this passage) appear less erroneous in the Kangyurs of the Thempangma tradition. The Stok Palace (stog pho brang) manuscript Kangyur reads dgum par bgyi ba lta bu ni … which is the reading we have translated here.

n.4

Tib: gang kho na na gnas pa de kho nar ’gags pa. “Remaining in themselves and ceasing in themselves” is our best guess at translating this obscure phrase.

n.5

The occurrence in this passage of the term bar ma dor yongs su myang ngan las ’da’ ba / anantarāparinirvāyī is the only occurrence in any of the Kangyur sūtra sections, except for one mention in the longer Prajñāpāramitāsūtras in relation to the Buddha’s qualities. The term is included in the Mahāvyutpatti (section 46, 1015), and the sgra sbyor bam po gnyis pa makes it clear that the Tibetans interpreted it as attaining the śrāvaka’s nirvāṇa in the interval between one life and the next (antaraparinirvāṇi zhes bya ba phyir mi ’ong ba srid pa gcig nas ’phos pa pha rol tu yang ma skyes par srid pa bar mdo’i tshe dgra bcom pa’i ’bras bu mngon du byas nas mya ngan las ’da’ bas na bar ma dor yongs su mya ngan las ’da’ ba zhes bya). According to Edgerton the Pāli sources interpret the term as meaning simply “attaining parinirvāṇa prematurely” i.e. in the middle of life, and the Prajñāpāramitā occurrence could be interpreted as prematurely in the sense of before having perfected the qualities. Here it could be interpreted either simply as attaining nirvāṇa “without any interval,” i.e. immediately, or possibly as in the interval after death; in both cases the implication is, of course, that the bodhisattva will not continue to live to benefit beings.

n.6

Tib: bdag gi sdug bsngal dang ’dra bar ’dod pa (or, in the Stok Palace Kangyur, bdag gis sdug bsngal …). The meaning of this expression is unclear to us.

n.7

Tib: sgra dang sgra ma yin pa so sor brtag pa la mkhas pa. The Tibetan sgra has a wide range of meanings, including “sound,” “voice,” “speech,” “language,” “word,” “term,” and “grammar.” It is not clear what this expression means in the context of this sentence.

n.8

Tib: snying rje ni kun tu spyod pa med pa’i mtshan nyid do. This way of defining compassion is surprising; it could possibly carry the sense of not having a fixed type of conduct, though this is not clear.

Bibliography

’phags pa bsod nams thams cad bsdus pa’i ting nge ’dzin ces bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo (Āryasarvapuṇyasamuccayasamādhināmamahāyānasūtra). Toh 134, Degé Kangyur, vol. 56 (mdo sde, na), folios 70b–121b.

’phags pa bsod nams thams cad bsdus pa’i ting nge ’dzin ces bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo. bka’ ’gyur (dpe bsdur ma) [Comparative Edition of the Kangyur], krung go’i bod rig pa zhib ’jug ste gnas kyi bka’ bstan dpe sdur khang (The Tibetan Tripitaka Collation Bureau of the China Tibetology Research Center). 108 volumes. Beijing: krung go’i bod rig pa dpe skrun khang (China Tibetology Publishing House), 2006–9, vol. 56, p. 196–317.

’phags pa bsod nams thams cad bsdus pa’i ting nge ’dzin ces bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo (Āryasarvapuṇyasamuccayasamādhināmamahāyānasūtra). sTog 107, Stok Palace (stog pho brang bris ma) Kangyur, vol. 63 (mdo sde, na), folios 80b–161b.

Pekar Zangpo (pad dkar bzang po). mdo sde spyi’i rnam bzhag. Beijing: mi rigs dpe skrun khang [Minorities Publishing House], 2006.

Dharmachakra Translation Committee (tr.). The Illusory Absorption (Māyopamasamādhi, Toh 130). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2016.

Edgerton, Franklin. Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Grammar and Dictionary. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1953.

Harrison, Paul, Timothy Lenz, Qian Lin, and Richard Salomon. “A Gāndhārī Fragment of the Sarvapuṇyasamuccayasamādhisūtra”. In Braarvig, Jens (ed.), Buddhist Manuscripts, Volume IV. Manuscripts in the Schøyen Collection. Oslo: Hermes Publishing, 2016.

Saloman, Richard. “Gāndhārī Manuscripts in the British Library, Schøyen and Other Collections.” In Harrison, Paul, and Jens-Uwe Hartmann (eds.), From Birch Bark to Digital Data: Recent Advances in Buddhist Manuscript Research. Papers Presented at the Conference Indic Buddhist Manuscripts: The State of the Field. Standord, June 15–19, 2009. Vienna: Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, 2014.

Glossary

g.1

Abodes of Brahmā

tshangs pa’i gnas

ཚངས་པའི་གནས།

brahmavihāra

Love, compassion, joy, equanimity.

g.2

Āmrapālī

a mras bsrungs pa

ཨ་མྲས་བསྲུངས་པ།

Āmrapālī

A famous and beautiful patron of the Buddha’s, courtesan in the city of Vaiśālī.

g.3

Āmrapālī’s great grove

a mras bsrungs pa’i tshal chen po

ཨ་མྲས་བསྲུངས་པའི་ཚལ་ཆེན་པོ།

Āmrapālīvana

The grove donated to the Buddha by the courtesan Āmrapālī.

g.4

Ānanda

kun dga’ bo

ཀུན་དགའ་བོ།

Ānanda

One of the Buddha’s primary followers, compiler of the sūtras.

g.38

Maudgalyāyana

maud gal gyi bu

མཽད་གལ་གྱི་བུ།

Maudgalyāyana

One of the main śrāvaka disciples in the sūtras.

g.42

Nārāyaṇa

sred med kyi bu

སྲེད་མེད་ཀྱི་བུ།

Nārāyaṇa

In the ancient Indian tradition, the son of the first man; later seen as a powerful avatar of Viṣṇu, but also as the progenitor of Brahmā. In Buddhist texts, he figures in various ways including (as he does in most of this text) as a bodhisattva, while still one of the most powerful gods of the Realm of Form (as in 1.21).

g.58

Vaiśālī

yangs pa

ཡངས་པ།

Vaiśālī

g.62

Vimalatejā

dri ma med pa’i gzi brjid

དྲི་མ་མེད་པའི་གཟི་བརྗིད།

Vimalatejā

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The Absorption That Encapsulates All Merit

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