The Perfection of Wisdom in Eighteen Thousand Lines
Chapter 28: Declaration of the Good Qualities of the Thought of Awakening
- Jinamitra
- Surendrabodhi
- Yeshé Dé
Toh 10
Degé Kangyur, vol. 29 (shes phyin, khri brgyad, ka), folios 1.a–300.a; vol. 30 (shes phyin, khri brgyad, kha), folios 1.a–304.a; vol. 31 (shes phyin, khri brgyad, 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 1.0.21 (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 28: Declaration of the Good Qualities of the Thought of Awakening
Śatakratu, head of the gods, having said this, the Lord then said to him, “Exactly so. Kauśika, exactly so. Those sons of a good family or daughters of a good family [F.294.a] who write out and make this perfection of wisdom into a book; take it up, bear it in mind, read it aloud, master it, and properly pay attention to it and on top of that respect, revere, honor, and worship it with flowers, perfumes, incense, garlands, creams, powders, robes, parasols, flags, and banners would, based on that, make a lot of merit, an immeasurable, countless, inconceivable, infinite, incomparable amount. And why? Kauśika, it is because the knowledge of all aspects of tathāgatas, worthy ones, perfectly complete buddhas issues forth from the perfection of wisdom. Kauśika, the five perfections, all the emptinesses, the thirty-seven dharmas on the side of awakening, the ten powers, the fearlessnesses, the detailed and thorough knowledges, the distinct attributes of a buddha, the five eyes, the six clairvoyances, bringing beings to maturity, and the perfect purification of a buddhafield issue forth from the perfection of wisdom. Kauśika, all-knowledge, knowledge of path aspects, and knowledge of all aspects issue forth from the perfection of wisdom. Kauśika, the Śrāvaka Vehicle, the Pratyekabuddha Vehicle, and the Great Vehicle issue forth from the perfection of wisdom, and unsurpassed, perfect, complete awakening issues forth from the perfection of wisdom too.
“Therefore, Kauśika, the merit created earlier would not approach the creation of merit by a son of a good family or daughter of a good family who writes out and makes this perfection of wisdom into a book; takes it up, bears it in mind, reads it aloud, masters it, and properly pays attention to it and respects, reveres, honors, and worships it with flowers, perfumes, incense, garlands, creams, powders, clothes, parasols, flags, and banners [F.294.b] by a hundredth part, or by a thousandth part, or by a hundred thousandth part, up to or by a one hundred million billionth part; it would not stand up to any number, or fraction, or comparison,418 up to or example. And why? Because, Kauśika, for as long as the perfection of wisdom remains in Jambudvīpa, the Buddha Jewel will not disappear, the Dharma Jewel and the Saṅgha Jewel will not disappear, and for that long the 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, seven limbs of awakening, and path; the ten powers, four fearlessnesses, four detailed and thorough knowledges, and eighteen distinct attributes of a buddha; all-knowledge, knowledge of path aspects, and knowledge of all aspects; great sāla tree–like royal families, great sāla tree–like brahmin families, and great sāla tree–like business families; and Cāturmahārājika gods, Trāyastriṃśa, Yāma, Tuṣita, Nirmāṇarati, and Paranirmitavaśavartin classes of gods, up to Akaniṣṭha gods will appear in the world; the result of stream enterer, the result of once-returner, the result of non-returner, and the state of a worthy one, a pratyekabuddha’s awakening, and the result of bodhisattvas will be perfectly accomplished; and there will be the unsurpassed knowledge of a buddha, the wheel of Dharma will be turned, beings will be brought to maturity, and a buddhafield will be purified.” [F.295.a]
Then Śatakratu, head of the gods, said to the Cāturmahārājika gods, up to the Akaniṣṭha gods, “Friends, you should take up, bear in mind, read aloud, and master the perfection of wisdom. Friends, you should read the perfection of wisdom aloud; you should properly pay attention to the perfection of wisdom. And why? Friends, when you have taken up, or borne in mind, or read aloud, or mastered, or properly paid attention to the perfection of wisdom, all unwholesome dharmas decrease and all wholesome dharmas increase; the classes of asuras decrease and the classes of gods increase.
“Friends, when you have taken up, or borne in mind, or read aloud, or mastered, or properly paid attention to the perfection of wisdom, the way of the Buddha is not brought to an end, the way of the Dharma and the way of Saṅgha are not brought to an end, and the lineage of the Three Jewels is not ended. Friends, all the perfections appear in the world; the thirty-seven dharmas on the side of awakening, the ten powers, the four fearlessnesses, the four detailed and thorough knowledges, up to the eighteen distinct attributes of a buddha appear in the world; the practice of bodhisattvas appears in the world; and stream enterers, once-returners, non-returners, worthy ones, pratyekabuddhas, and bodhisattva great beings appear and exist in the world.”
The Lord then said to Śatakratu, head of the gods, “Kauśika, you should take up the perfection of wisdom. Kauśika, you should bear in mind, you should read aloud, you should master, and you should properly pay attention to the perfection of wisdom.
“And why? Kauśika, it is because when it occurs to the asuras [F.295.b] to think, as they habitually do, ‘Let us engage the Trāyastriṃśa gods in battle,’ were you to focus your thoughts on the perfection of wisdom, as you habitually do, and read it aloud, that will make the habitual thoughts of the asuras die down. They will not have thoughts again to engage in battle in the future. Or, because were you to read aloud this perfection of wisdom in the presence of those gods and goddesses when their time of death is at hand, then, even if they were to behold their birth in a terrible form of life, from hearing this perfection of wisdom the thoughts they have about a terrible form of life would die down. In future they would be born in just the abodes of gods. Kauśika, such is the force of hearing the perfection of wisdom.
“Kauśika, because of the wholesome root planted by any son of a good family or daughter of a good family, or god or goddess, who has heard the sound of this perfection of wisdom, they all will gradually fully awaken to unsurpassed, perfect, complete awakening. And why? Kauśika, it is because those tathāgatas, worthy ones, perfectly complete buddhas with their śrāvaka saṅghas who appeared in times past trained in this perfection of wisdom and fully awakened to unsurpassed, perfect, complete awakening; and those lord buddhas with their śrāvaka saṅghas in future times, and those buddhas who are at the present time dwelling and maintaining themselves in world systems in the ten directions will, having trained in this perfection of wisdom, fully awaken to unsurpassed, perfect, complete awakening too. And why? Because all buddha dharmas, all bodhisattva dharmas, all pratyekabuddha dharmas, and all śrāvaka dharmas are included in the perfection of wisdom.”
The Lord having said this, [F.296.a] Śatakratu, head of the gods, then said to him, “This, Lord—that is, the perfection of wisdom—is a great knowledge-mantra. Lord, this perfection of wisdom is an unsurpassable knowledge-mantra. Lord, this perfection of wisdom is a knowledge-mantra equal to the unequaled. And why? Because the perfection of wisdom has been set out for the elimination of all unwholesome dharmas and for the completion of all wholesome dharmas.”
Śatakratu, head of the gods, having said this, the Lord then said to him, “Exactly so, Kauśika, exactly so. This, Kauśika—that is, the perfection of wisdom—is a great knowledge-mantra. Kauśika, this perfection of wisdom is an unsurpassable knowledge-mantra. Kauśika, this perfection of wisdom is a knowledge-mantra equal to the unequaled.
“And why? Kauśika, it is because past, future, and present tathāgatas, worthy ones, perfectly complete buddhas in world systems in the ten directions have fully awakened, will fully awaken, and are fully awakening to unsurpassed, perfect, complete awakening thanks to this very perfection of wisdom; it is because the existence of the ten wholesome actions in the world, Kauśika, and the existence in the world of the four concentrations, the four immeasurables, the four formless absorptions, all the perfections, all the emptinesses, the thirty-seven dharmas on the side of awakening, the ten powers, the four fearlessnesses, the four detailed and thorough knowledges, the eighteen distinct attributes of a buddha, the gateways to liberation, the dharma-constituent, the very limit of reality, suchness, [F.296.b] unmistaken suchness, unaltered suchness, the true nature of dharmas, the establishment of dharmas, the certification of dharmas, the five eyes, the six clairvoyances, the result of stream enterer, the result of once-returner, the result of non-returner, the state of a worthy one, a pratyekabuddha’s awakening, the bodhisattva, and the knowledge of all aspects are all thanks to this very perfection of wisdom; and it is because, Kauśika, the existence of the ten wholesome actions in the world, up to the existence of the knowledge of all aspects in the world, up to the existence of tathāgatas, worthy ones, perfectly complete buddhas in the world all are thanks to the bodhisattva.
“To illustrate, Kauśika, just as the existence of all the constellations and stars is thanks to the disk of the moon,419 similarly the existence of the ten wholesome actions, wholesome practice, perfect practice, emptiness, signlessness, and wishlessness meditative stabilization gateways (the constellations), and those in training and for whom there is no more training, and śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas (the lunar mansions and stars) comes down to the bodhisattva (the disk of the moon), the existence of all-knowledge, and the existence of the Tathāgata. When lord buddhas have not fully awakened in the world, when tathāgatas do not appear, it is just the bodhisattva great beings who teach the ordinary and extraordinary Dharma to beings.
“And why? It is because the vehicle of the gods, the vehicle of humans, the Śrāvaka Vehicle, the Pratyekabuddha Vehicle, and the Great Vehicle issue forth from the bodhisattva great beings. And it is because the skillful means with which bodhisattva great beings bring all the six perfections to completion; [F.297.a] meditate on all the emptinesses; cultivate the thirty-seven dharmas on the side of awakening; cause the ten powers, four fearlessnesses, four detailed and thorough knowledges, and eighteen distinct attributes of a buddha to be acquired; cause the thirty-two major marks and the eighty minor signs of a great person to be acquired; cause the śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha levels not to be directly realized; cause beings to be brought to maturity; cause a buddhafield to be purified; cause the perfect states420 of a bodhisattva to be appropriated; and cause the knowledge of all aspects to be acquired—it is because that skillful means issues forth from the perfection of wisdom.
“Furthermore, Kauśika, sons of a good family or daughters of a good family who take up, bear in mind, read aloud, master, and properly pay attention to the perfection of wisdom will also have these good qualities in this very life.”
The Lord having said this, Śatakratu, head of the gods, then asked him, “Lord, what are these good qualities sons of a good family or daughters of a good family who take up, bear in mind, read aloud, master, and properly pay attention to the perfection of wisdom will also have in this very life?”
“Kauśika,” replied the Lord, “poisoning will not cause the time of death for sons of a good family or daughters of a good family who take up, bear in mind, read aloud, master, and properly pay attention to the perfection of wisdom; their time of death will not be caused by fire, weapons, or water—their time of death will not be caused by anything at all, up to sickness, unless it is the maturation of karma.
“Kauśika, when those sons of a good family or daughters of a good family who have been persecuted by a royal family have set out for the palace, those who are looking for an opportunity to hurt them will not find an opportunity even though they seek it out. And why? [F.297.b] Because of the splendor of just this perfection of wisdom. Kauśika, if those sons of a good family or daughters of a good family approach that palace reciting the perfection of wisdom, the princes and the important ministers will decide to welcome them, will decide to speak kind words to them, and will decide to celebrate. And why? Because those sons of a good family or daughters of a good family have attended to the mind that loves all beings, and they have attended to the mind that feels compassion and joy for, and has equanimity toward, all beings.
“Kauśika, sons of a good family or daughters of a good family who take up, bear in mind, read aloud, master, and properly pay attention to the perfection of wisdom will also have those good qualities in this very life.
“Furthermore, Kauśika, sons of a good family or daughters of a good family who take up, bear in mind, read aloud, master, and properly pay attention to the perfection of wisdom will also have these good qualities in a future life as well, that is, they will never be separated from the ten wholesome actions, and they will never be separated from the four concentrations, the four immeasurables, the four formless absorptions, the perfections, all the emptinesses, the thirty-seven dharmas on the side of awakening, the powers, the fearlessnesses, the detailed and thorough knowledges, or the eighteen distinct attributes of a buddha. They will never be born in the hells, the animal world, or in the world of Yama. They will never have incomplete faculties, will never have missing limbs, will never be born in a family that is destitute, will never be born in a family of bamboo-flute makers, will never be born in a family defiled by crime, and will never be born in the low castes. From then on [F.298.a] they will constantly and always obtain a body adorned with the thirty-two major marks of a great person. In world systems where lord buddhas are standing they will miraculously take birth from a lotus and appear in the presence of those lord buddhas. Their clairvoyances will never weaken. They will attend on those lord buddhas and will pass on from buddhafield to buddhafield to listen to the Dharma when and as they want to, and when they are passing on from buddhafield to buddhafield they will bring beings to maturity and purify a buddhafield.
“Therefore, Kauśika, sons of a good family or daughters of a good family who want to obtain this accumulation of perfect good qualities should take up, bear in mind, read aloud, master, and properly pay attention to this perfection of wisdom and not become separated from the thought of the knowledge of all aspects. Up until they fully awaken to unsurpassed, perfect, complete awakening, they will never be without these good qualities in this life or in future lives.”
This was the twenty-eighth chapter, “Declaration of the Good Qualities of the Thought of Awakening,” of “The Perfection of Wisdom in Eighteen Thousand Lines.”