The Perfection of Wisdom in Eighteen Thousand Lines
Chapter 23: Hard to Understand
- Jinamitra
- Surendrabodhi
- Yeshé Dé
Toh 10
Degé Kangyur, vol. 29 (shes phyin, ka), folios 1.a–300.a; vol. 30 (shes phyin, kha), folios 1.a–304.a; vol. 31 (shes phyin, ga), folios 1.a–206.a
Translated by Gareth Sparham
under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha
First published 2022
Current version v 1.0.18 (2023)
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Table of Contents
Summary
The Perfection of Wisdom in Eighteen Thousand Lines is one version of the Long Perfection of Wisdom sūtras that developed in South and South-Central Asia in tandem with the Eight Thousand version, probably during the first five hundred years of the Common Era. It contains many of the passages in the oldest extant Long Perfection of Wisdom text (the Gilgit manuscript in Sanskrit), and is similar in structure to the other versions of the Long Perfection of Wisdom sūtras (the One Hundred Thousand and Twenty-Five Thousand) in Tibetan in the Kangyur. While setting forth the sacred fundamental doctrines of Buddhist practice with veneration, it simultaneously exhorts the reader to reject them as an object of attachment, its recurring message being that all dharmas without exception lack any intrinsic nature.
The sūtra can be divided loosely into three parts: an introductory section that sets the scene, a long central section, and three concluding chapters that consist of two important summaries of the long central section. The first of these (chapter 84) is in verse and also circulates as a separate work called The Verse Summary of the Jewel Qualities (Toh 13). The second summary is in the form of the story of Sadāprarudita and his guru Dharmodgata (chapters 85 and 86), after which the text concludes with the Buddha entrusting the work to his close companion Ānanda.
Acknowledgements
This sūtra was translated by Gareth Sparham under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.
The Translator’s Acknowledgments
This is a good occasion to remember and thank my friend Nicholas Ribush, who first gave me a copy of Edward Conze’s translation of The Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Lines in 1973. I also thank the Tibetan teachers and students at the Riklam Lobdra in Dharamshala, India, where I began to study the Perfection of Wisdom, for their kindness and patience; Jeffrey Hopkins and Elizabeth Napper, who steered me in the direction of the Perfection of Wisdom and have been very kind to me over the years; and Ashok Aklujkar and others at the University of British Columbia in Canada, who taught me Sanskrit and Indian culture while I was writing my dissertation on Haribhadra’s Perfection of Wisdom commentary. I thank the hermits in the hills above Riklam Lobdra and the many Tibetan scholars and practitioners who encouraged me while I continued working on the Perfection of Wisdom after I graduated from the University of British Columbia. I thank all those who continued to support me as a monk and scholar after the violent death of my friend and mentor toward the end of the millennium. I thank those at the University of Michigan and then at the University of California (Berkeley), particularly Donald Lopez and Jacob Dalton, who enabled me to complete the set of four volumes of translations from Sanskrit of the Perfection of Wisdom commentaries by Haribhadra and Āryavimuktisena and four volumes of the fourteenth-century Tibetan commentary on the Perfection of Wisdom by Tsongkhapa. I thank Gene Smith, who introduced me to 84000. I thank everyone at 84000: Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche and the sponsors; the scholars, translators, editors, and technicians; and all the other indispensable people whose work has made this translation of The Perfection of Wisdom in Eighteen Thousand Lines and its accompanying commentary possible.
Around me everything I see would be part of a perfect road if I had better driving skills.Where I was born, where everything is made of concrete, it too is a perfect place.Everyone I have been with, everyone who is near me now, and even those I have forgotten—there is no one who has not helped me.So, I bow to everyone and to the world and ask for patience, and, as a boon, a smile.
Acknowledgment of Sponsors
We gratefully acknowledge the generous sponsorship of Matthew Yizhen Kong, Steven Ye Kong and family; An Zhang, Hannah Zhang, Lucas Zhang, Aiden Zhang, Jinglan Chi, Jingcan Chi, Jinghui Chi and family, Hong Zhang and family; Mao Guirong, Zhang Yikun, Chi Linlin; and Joseph Tse, Patricia Tse and family. Their support has helped make the work on this translation possible.
Chapter 23: Hard to Understand
Then it occurred to those gods to think, “What would the elder Subhūti accept those listening to the Dharma to be like?”
Then venerable Subhūti, understanding in his mind the thoughts occurring to those gods, said to those gods, “Gods, I would accept those listening to the doctrine to be like illusory beings. I would accept those listening to the doctrine to be like magically created beings. They will not listen to, master, or directly realize anything at all.”
Then those gods asked venerable Subhūti, “Venerable monk Subhūti, are beings like an illusion, and are those listening to the doctrine like an illusion? Are beings like a magical creation, and are those listening to the doctrine like a magical creation?”
“Exactly so, gods, exactly so,” replied Subhūti. “Beings are like an illusion, and those listening to the doctrine are like an illusion. Beings are like a magical creation, and those listening to the doctrine are like a magical creation.
“Beings, gods, are like a dream and are like an illusion. Form, too, gods, is like a dream [F.255.a] and is like an illusion. Feeling, perception, volitional factors, and consciousness, gods, are like a dream and are like an illusion. The eyes, gods, are like a dream and are like an illusion, and similarly the ears, nose, tongue, body, and thinking mind are like a dream and are like an illusion. A form, gods, is like a dream and is like an illusion, and a sound, a smell, a taste, a feeling, and dharmas are like a dream and are like an illusion. Eye consciousness, eye contact, and the feeling that arises from the condition of eye contact are like a dream and are like an illusion. Similarly, ear . . . nose . . . tongue . . . body . . . and thinking-mind consciousness, thinking-mind contact, and the feeling that arises from the condition of thinking-mind contact are like a dream and are like an illusion.
“The perfection of giving is like a dream and is like an illusion, and the perfection of morality, perfection of patience, perfection of perseverance, perfection of concentration, and perfection of wisdom are like a dream and are like an illusion.
“Inner emptiness is like a dream and is like an illusion, up to the emptiness that is the nonexistence of an intrinsic nature is like a dream and is like an illusion.
“The applications of mindfulness too are like a dream and are like an illusion, and the right efforts, legs of miraculous power, faculties, powers, limbs of awakening, eightfold noble path, ten powers, fearlessnesses, detailed and thorough knowledges, and distinct attributes of a buddha are like a dream and are like an illusion.
“The result of stream enterer [F.255.b] is also like a dream and is like an illusion, and a stream enterer is also like a dream and is like an illusion. The result of once-returner and a once-returner, the result of non-returner and a non-returner, and the state of a worthy one and a worthy one are also like a dream and are like an illusion. A pratyekabuddha’s awakening is also like a dream and is like an illusion, and a pratyekabuddha is also like a dream and is like an illusion. Unsurpassed, perfect, complete awakening is also like a dream and is like an illusion, and buddhahood is also like a dream and is like an illusion.”
Then those gods asked venerable Subhūti, “Venerable monk Subhūti, is even buddhahood like a dream, like an illusion? Is nirvāṇa like a dream and like an illusion too?”
“Gods,” replied Subhūti, “I declare that even nirvāṇa is like a dream and is like an illusion, and if there is any dharma superior even to nirvāṇa, I declare that it too is like a dream and is like an illusion. And why? Gods, it is because a dream, an illusion, and nirvāṇa are not two and are not divided.”
Then venerable Śāripūtra, venerable Mahāmaudgalyāyana, venerable Mahākauṣṭhilya, venerable Mahākātyāyana, venerable Pūrṇa Maitrāyaṇīputra, venerable Mahākāśyapa, and many thousands of bodhisattvas inquired of the venerable monk Subhūti, “Who will be the recipients of this perfection of wisdom so deep, so hard to behold, so hard to understand, so peaceful, so sublime, so subtle, so private,392 [F.256.a] so not an object of speculative thought, so brilliant, so absolutely noble, and so much an object to be known by the learned and wise?”
Those great śrāvakas and great bodhisattvas having thus inquired, venerable Subhūti said to them, “Venerable Ones, bodhisattva great beings irreversible from awakening will be the recipients of this perfection of wisdom so deep, so hard to behold, so hard to understand, so peaceful, so sublime, so subtle, so private, so not an object of speculative thought, so brilliant, so absolutely noble, and so much an object to be known by the learned and wise. Persons393 who have seen the truths, or worthy ones with outflows dried up, or those who have completed their plan, or those who have served well the victors, or those whose wholesome roots have grown under many hundred millions of buddhas, or sons and daughters of good families who have been mentored by spiritual friends also will be the recipients of this perfection of wisdom so deep, so hard to behold, so hard to understand, so peaceful, so sublime, so subtle, so private, so not an object of speculative thought, so brilliant, so absolutely noble, so much an object to be known by the learned and wise.
“They will not construct the idea that form is empty, and they will not construct the idea that emptiness is form. They will not construct the idea that feeling . . . perception . . . volitional factors . . . and consciousness is empty, and they will not construct the idea that emptiness is consciousness. [F.256.b]
“They will not construct the idea that form is signless, and they will not construct the idea that signlessness is form. They will not construct the idea that feeling . . . perception . . . volitional factors . . . and consciousness is signless, they will not construct the idea that signlessness is consciousness.
“They will not construct the idea that form is wishless, and they will not construct the idea that wishlessness is form. They will not construct the idea that form does not arise, and they will not construct the idea that nonarising is form. They will not construct the idea that form does not stop, and they will not construct the idea that nonstopping is form. Similarly, they will not construct the idea that form is calm, is not calm, is isolated, and is not isolated.
“They will not construct the idea that feeling . . . perception . . . volitional factors . . . and consciousness is wishless, and they will not construct the idea that wishlessness is consciousness. Similarly, they will not construct the idea that it does not arise, does not stop, is calm, or is isolated. Similarly, they will not construct the idea that the constituents, sense fields, dependent origination, perfections, dharmas on the side of awakening, inner emptiness, up to the emptiness that is the nonexistence of an intrinsic nature, applications of mindfulness, right efforts, legs of miraculous power, faculties, powers, limbs of awakening, eightfold noble path, ten powers, four fearlessnesses, four detailed and thorough knowledges, eighteen distinct attributes of a buddha, [F.257.a] meditative stabilizations, dhāraṇī gateways, and similarly, the result of stream enterer, result of once-returner, result of non-returner, state of a worthy one, or state of a pratyekabuddha are like that either.
“They will not construct the idea that the knowledge of all aspects is empty, and they will not construct the idea that emptiness is the knowledge of all aspects. They will not construct the idea that the knowledge of all aspects is signless, and they will not construct the idea that signlessness is the knowledge of all aspects. They will not construct the idea that the knowledge of all aspects is wishless, and they will not construct the idea that wishlessness is the knowledge of all aspects. They will not construct the idea that the knowledge of all aspects does not arise, does not stop, is calm, or is isolated.
“They will not construct the idea that the compounded element is empty, and they will not construct the idea that emptiness is the compounded element. They will not construct the idea that the compounded element is signless, [F.257.b] and they will not construct the idea that signlessness is the compounded element. They will not construct the idea that the compounded element is wishless, and they will not construct the idea that wishlessness is the compounded element. Similarly, they will not construct the idea the compounded element does not arise, does not stop, is calm, or is isolated.
“They will not construct the idea that the uncompounded element is empty, and they will not construct the idea that emptiness is the uncompounded element. They will not construct the idea that the uncompounded element is signless, and they will not construct the idea that signlessness is the uncompounded element. They will not construct the idea that the uncompounded element is wishless, and they will not construct the idea that wishlessness is the uncompounded element. Similarly, they will not construct the idea the uncompounded element does not arise, does not stop, is calm, or is isolated.
“Gods, in this way nobody will be a recipient of this perfection of wisdom that is so deep, so absolutely noble, so brilliant, and so much an object to be known by the learned and wise. And why? Because here no Dharma at all is pointed out, explained, or taught, and just as no Dharma at all is pointed out, explained, or taught, so too no being at all will be the recipient of it.”
Then venerable Śāriputra inquired of venerable Subhūti,394 “Is it not the case that in this perfection of wisdom the three vehicles—that is, the Śrāvaka Vehicle, the Pratyekabuddha Vehicle, and the perfect, complete Buddha Vehicle—are taught in detail? Is it not the case that the first production of the thought up until the tenth production of the thought are taught for the assistance of bodhisattva great beings? Is it not the case that the bodhisattva’s path is taught—that is, the perfection of giving, perfection of morality, perfection of patience, perfection of perseverance, perfection of concentration, and perfection of wisdom; the applications of mindfulness, right efforts, legs of miraculous power, faculties, powers, limbs of awakening, eightfold noble path, ten powers, [F.258.a] fearlessnesses, and detailed and thorough knowledges; up to the distinct attributes of a buddha? So, is it also not the case that bodhisattva great beings practicing the perfection of wisdom will miraculously take birth and appear? So, is it also not the case that they will become those whose clairvoyances naturally do not decline? Is it also not the case that those kinds of wholesome roots on account of which they pass, if they want to, from buddhafield to buddhafield and respect, revere, honor, and worship those lord buddhas—that such wholesome roots that bring that about will flourish? Is it not the case that they will not forget the stream of the Dharma they will listen to, right up until they fully awaken to unsurpassed, perfect, complete awakening? Is it not the case that by way of meditative absorption without distraction they will always be in meditative absorption? And is it not the case that they will become those with an unimpeded confident readiness, an unbroken confident readiness, a meditatively absorbed confident readiness, an appropriate confident readiness, a connected confident readiness, a meaningful confident readiness, and a superior confident readiness that rises above all the world?”
“Exactly so, Venerable Śāriputra, exactly so,” replied Subhūti. “It is just as you say. In this perfection of wisdom the three vehicles—that is, the Śrāvaka Vehicle, the Pratyekabuddha Vehicle, and the perfect, complete Buddha Vehicle—are taught in detail. Connect this in the same way, up to it is taught for the assistance of bodhisattva great beings that they will become those with a superior [F.258.b] confident readiness that rises above all the world. And it is taught, furthermore, by way of not apprehending anything. It is taught by way of not apprehending what? It is taught by way of not apprehending a self, up to by way of not apprehending one who knows and one who sees; by way of not apprehending form; by way of not apprehending feeling, perception, volitional factors, or consciousness; by way of not apprehending the eyes; by way of not apprehending the ears, nose, tongue, body, or thinking mind; by way of not apprehending the earth element, water element, fire element, wind element, space element, or consciousness element; by way of not apprehending the perfection of giving, perfection of morality, perfection of patience, perfection of perseverance, perfection of concentration, or perfection of wisdom; by way of not apprehending inner emptiness, up to the emptiness that is the nonexistence of an intrinsic nature; by way of not apprehending the applications of mindfulness, right efforts, legs of miraculous power, faculties, powers, limbs of awakening, or eightfold noble path; and by way of not apprehending the ten powers, fearlessnesses, detailed and thorough knowledges, or distinct attributes of a buddha, up to by way of not apprehending the knowledge of all aspects.”
Venerable Śāriputra then asked venerable Subhūti, “In this perfection of wisdom, why are the three vehicles taught in detail by way of not apprehending anything, up to why [F.259.a] is it taught for the assistance of bodhisattva great beings that they will become those with a superior confident readiness that rises above all the world by way of not apprehending anything?”
Subhūti replied, “Venerable Śāriputra, it is because of inner emptiness that the three vehicles are taught in detail by way of not apprehending anything. It is because of outer emptiness, up to the emptiness that is the nonexistence of an intrinsic nature that the three vehicles are taught in detail by way of not apprehending anything. Up to it is because of inner emptiness that it is taught for the assistance of bodhisattva great beings that they will become those with a superior confident readiness that rises above all the world. It is because of outer emptiness, up to the emptiness that is the nonexistence of an intrinsic nature that it is taught for the assistance of bodhisattva great beings that they will become those with a superior confident readiness that rises above all the world.”
This was the twenty-third chapter, “Hard to Understand,” of “The Perfection of Wisdom in Eighteen Thousand Lines.”