The Perfection of Wisdom in Eighteen Thousand Lines
Chapter 47: Taming Greed
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 1.0.13 (2022)
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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 47: Taming Greed
Subhūti [F.162.a] then asked, “Lord, what will the attributes, tokens, and signs535 be of those bodhisattva great beings who will believe in this deep perfection of wisdom, and what will be their intrinsic nature?”
Venerable Subhūti having thus inquired, the Lord replied to him, “Those bodhisattva great beings who will believe in this deep perfection of wisdom have eliminated greed and are in their intrinsic nature isolated from it; they have also eliminated hatred and confusion and are in their intrinsic nature isolated from them. Subhūti, they are in their intrinsic nature isolated from the token of greed. Subhūti, those bodhisattva great beings are in their intrinsic nature isolated from the tokens of hatred and confusion.
“Subhūti, they are in their intrinsic nature isolated from the sign of greed. Subhūti, those bodhisattva great beings are in their intrinsic nature isolated from the signs of hatred and confusion.”
“Lord, what sort of way of being will these bodhisattva great beings who will realize this deep perfection of wisdom have?” asked Subhūti.
“Subhūti,” replied the Lord, “those bodhisattva great beings who realize this deep perfection of wisdom will have the knowledge of all aspects as their way of being.”
Subhūti said, “Lord, those bodhisattva great beings who have the knowledge of all aspects as their way of being are the support of all beings.”
“Exactly so, Subhūti, exactly so!” replied the Lord. “Those bodhisattva great beings who believe in this deep [F.162.b] perfection of wisdom are the support of all beings because they have the knowledge of all aspects as their way of being.”
Subhūti said, “Lord, those who do what is difficult are those bodhisattva great beings who have buckled on that armor, thinking, ‘We will place all beings in complete nirvāṇa,’ even while not apprehending a being or the designation of a being.”
“Exactly so, Subhūti, exactly so!” replied the Lord. “Those who do what is difficult are those bodhisattva great beings who have buckled on that armor, thinking, ‘We will place all beings in complete nirvāṇa.’
“Subhūti, that armor of bodhisattva great beings is not spliced with form. And why? Subhūti, it is because form and that armor of bodhisattvas absolutely do not exist; that is why, Subhūti, it is said ‘that armor is not spliced with form.’ Subhūti, that armor of bodhisattva great beings is not spliced with feeling, perception, volitional factors, or consciousness. And why? Subhūti, it is because feeling . . . , perception . . . , volitional factors . . . , and consciousness and that armor of bodhisattvas absolutely do not exist; that is why, Subhūti, it is said ‘that armor is not spliced with consciousness.’ Subhūti, that armor is not spliced with an owner, and it is not spliced with a being, a living being, a creature, one who lives, an individual, a person, one born of Manu, a child of Manu, one who does, one who motivates, one who feels, one who knows, or one who sees, up to Subhūti, that armor is not spliced with the knowledge of all aspects. And why? Subhūti, it is because the knowledge of all aspects absolutely does not exist, and the armor of bodhisattvas absolutely does not exist and is not apprehended; that is why, Subhūti, it is said ‘that armor of bodhisattva great beings is not spliced with . . . up to [F.163.a] the knowledge of all aspects.’ Ah! Subhūti, that armor of those bodhisattva great beings practicing this deep perfection of wisdom, of those bodhisattva great beings who have buckled on such armor, thinking, ‘We will place all beings in complete nirvāṇa,’ is not spliced with all dharmas.”
“Lord,” said Subhūti, “they should know that there are two places where those bodhisattva great beings who have buckled on the armor, thinking, ‘We will place all beings in complete nirvāṇa,’ do not go—the śrāvaka level or the pratyekabuddha level. Lord, it is impossible and there is no chance of it. It is impossible that bodhisattva great beings who have buckled on such armor, thinking, ‘We will place all beings in complete nirvāṇa,’ would fall to the śrāvaka level or the pratyekabuddha level. And why? Because bodhisattva great beings do not buckle on the armor for the sake of beings, having drawn in the boundaries.”536
Venerable Subhūti having said this, the Lord then asked him, “What is the reality you are seeing, Subhūti, that forces you to say, ‘They should know that there are two places,’ one or the other, ‘where those bodhisattva great beings who have buckled on the armor do not go—the śrāvaka level and the pratyekabuddha level’?”
Subhūti replied, “Lord it is thus: bodhisattva great beings have not buckled on armor for the sake of only a partial number of beings. Lord, bodhisattva great beings have buckled on armor for the sake of all beings. Lord, bodhisattva great beings have buckled on armor for the knowledge of a knower of all aspects.” [F.163.b]
“Exactly so, Subhūti, exactly so!” said the Lord. “Bodhisattva great beings have not buckled on armor for the sake of only a partial number of beings. Subhūti, bodhisattva great beings have buckled on armor for the sake of all beings; they have buckled on armor for the knowledge of a knower of all aspects.”
“Lord, this perfection of wisdom is deep,” said Subhūti. “It is not something that somebody has to meditate on, it is not something that has to be meditated on somewhere, and it is not something that has to be meditated on somehow. And why? Because, Lord, in this deep perfection of wisdom you cannot apprehend the perfect development of any phenomenon—someone who might meditate, something which might be meditated on, or something by means of which meditation might take place.
“Lord, the meditation on space is the meditation on the perfection of wisdom. The meditation on the nonexistence of all dharmas is the meditation on the perfection of wisdom. The meditation on the not truly real537 is the meditation on the perfection of wisdom. The meditation on not holding onto anything is the meditation on the perfection of wisdom. The meditation on disintegration is the meditation on the perfection of wisdom.”
The Lord asked, “What is it—namely, the disintegration of meditation—that is the meditation on the perfection of wisdom?”
“Lord,” replied Subhūti, “the disintegration of the meditation on form is the meditation on the perfection of wisdom. Similarly, the disintegration of the meditation on feeling, perception, volitional factors, and consciousness is the meditation on the perfection of wisdom. Lord, [F.164.a] the disintegration of the meditation on self is the meditation on the perfection of wisdom. Lord, the disintegration of the meditation on . . . up to one who knows and one who sees is the meditation on the perfection of wisdom. Lord, the disintegration of the meditation on the perfection of giving is the meditation on the perfection of wisdom. Similarly, the disintegration of the meditation on . . . up to the perfection of wisdom is the meditation on the perfection of wisdom. Lord, the disintegration of the meditation on inner emptiness, up to the disintegration of the meditation on the emptiness that is the nonexistence of an intrinsic nature is the meditation on the perfection of wisdom. Lord, the disintegration of the meditation on the applications of mindfulness is the meditation on the perfection of wisdom. The disintegration of the meditation on the right efforts, legs of miraculous power, faculties, powers, limbs of awakening, and path is the meditation on the perfection of wisdom. The disintegration of the meditation on the ten powers is the meditation on the perfection of wisdom. The disintegration of the meditation on the fearlessnesses, detailed and thorough knowledges, and eighteen distinct attributes of a buddha is the meditation on the perfection of wisdom. The disintegration of the meditation on the result of stream enterer is the meditation on the perfection of wisdom. The disintegration of the meditation on the result of once-returner, the result of non-returner, the state of a worthy one, a pratyekabuddha’s awakening, and from the bodhisattva levels up to the knowledge of all aspects is the meditation on the perfection of wisdom.”
“Exactly so, Subhūti, exactly so!” replied the Lord. [F.164.b] “The disintegration of the meditation on form is the meditation on the perfection of wisdom. Similarly, connect this with The disintegration of the meditation on . . . up to the knowledge of all aspects is the meditation on the perfection of wisdom.
“Subhūti, you should look closely at a bodhisattva great being irreversible from this deep perfection of wisdom—‘Is the bodhisattva great being not attached to this deep perfection of wisdom?’ Similarly, connect this with you should look closely at a bodhisattva great being irreversible from the perfection of concentration, perfection of perseverance, perfection of patience, perfection of morality, and perfection of giving, up to you should look closely at a bodhisattva great being irreversible from the knowledge of all aspects—‘Is the bodhisattva great being not attached to this knowledge of all aspects? Does the irreversible bodhisattva great being practicing this deep perfection of wisdom not look at what others have said and what others have taught as pointless? Does the irreversible bodhisattva great being practicing this deep perfection of wisdom not go along with what somebody else believes? Is the irreversible bodhisattva great being practicing this deep perfection of wisdom not captured by the production of thoughts connected with greed, not captured by the production of thoughts connected with hatred and confusion?’
“You should look closely at whether irreversible bodhisattva great beings practicing this deep perfection of wisdom are not separated from the perfection of giving, perfection of morality, perfection of patience, [F.165.a] perfection of perseverance, perfection of concentration, or perfection of wisdom. When this deep perfection of wisdom is being taught, do those irreversible bodhisattva great beings practicing this deep perfection of wisdom not tremble, feel frightened, and become terrified? Look closely at whether their minds are not cowed, do not tense up, and do not experience regret; are not separated from the perfection of wisdom; delight in the perfection of wisdom and in hearing the perfection of wisdom, and, having heard it, take it up, bear it in mind, read it aloud, master it, properly pay attention to it, and focus on it in practice.
“Subhūti, you should know that the irreversible bodhisattva great beings have asked about this deep perfection of wisdom also in the past, and have taken it up, borne it in mind, read it aloud, mastered it, and properly paid attention to it. And why? Because when there is an exposition of this deep perfection of wisdom, those irreversible bodhisattva great beings do not tremble, feel frightened, or become terrified; their minds are not cowed, do not tense up, and do not experience regret; and, on top of that, having heard the perfection of wisdom they take it up, bear it in mind, read it aloud, master it, and properly pay attention to it.”
“Lord,” asked Subhūti, “those bodhisattva great beings who do not tremble, feel frightened, or become terrified; whose minds are not cowed, do not tense up, and do not experience regret when there is an exposition of this deep perfection of wisdom—how should those bodhisattva great beings think carefully about this deep [F.165.b] perfection of wisdom?”
“Subhūti, bodhisattva great beings should think carefully about this deep perfection of wisdom with mindstreams inclined to the knowledge of all aspects,” replied the Lord.
“Lord, how should those bodhisattva great beings think carefully about this deep perfection of wisdom with mindstreams inclined to the knowledge of all aspects?” asked Subhūti.
“Subhūti,” replied the Lord, “bodhisattva great beings should think carefully about this deep perfection of wisdom with mindstreams inclined to emptiness, tending to emptiness, and heading to emptiness.
“Subhūti, bodhisattva great beings should think carefully about this deep perfection of wisdom with mindstreams inclined to signlessness, with mindstreams inclined to wishlessness, inclined to space, and similarly, connect this with with mindstreams inclined to the unproduced, the unceasing, the absence of defilement and the absence of purification, and inclined to suchness, the dharma-constituent, the very limit of reality, sameness, the inconceivable, and what does not occasion anything. Subhūti, bodhisattva great beings should think carefully about this deep perfection of wisdom with mindstreams inclined to what is like a dream and like a magical creation.”
Subhūti then inquired, “Lord, given what you have said—‘Bodhisattva great beings should think carefully about this deep perfection of wisdom with mindstreams inclined to emptiness,’ up to ‘Bodhisattva great beings should think carefully about this deep perfection of wisdom with mindstreams inclined to what is like a dream’ [F.166.a]—well then, Lord, do bodhisattva great beings also think carefully about form? Do they also think carefully about feeling, perception, volitional factors, and consciousness? Do they also think carefully about . . . up to the knowledge of all aspects?”
“Subhūti,” replied the Lord, “bodhisattva great beings do not think carefully about form. They also do not think carefully about feeling, perception, volitional factors, or consciousness. Similarly, connect this with Subhūti, bodhisattva great beings also do not think carefully about . . . up to the knowledge of all aspects.
“And why? Subhūti, it is because nobody has made the knowledge of all aspects, and nobody has made it change. It has not come from anywhere, is not going anywhere, is not anywhere, is not in a place, and is not in a location. You cannot apprehend its number, coming, or going, and nobody is able to fully awaken to something whose number, coming, and going cannot be apprehended, because nobody fully awakens through form, feeling, perception, volitional factors, and consciousness; through giving, morality, patience, perseverance, concentration, and wisdom; up to through knowledge of the knowledge of all aspects. And why? Because just form is the knowledge of all aspects; just feeling . . . , just perception . . . , just volitional factors . . . , and just consciousness is the knowledge of all aspects. And why? [F.166.b] Subhūti, it is because that suchness of form and that suchness of the knowledge of all aspects is a single suchness. Similarly, that suchness of feeling, perception, volitional factors, and consciousness and that suchness of the knowledge of all aspects is a single suchness. Similarly, that suchness of the perfections, the dharmas on the side of awakening, the powers, the fearlessnesses, the detailed and thorough knowledges, and the eighteen distinct attributes of a buddha and that suchness of the knowledge of all aspects is a single suchness. That is the suchness of the eighteen distinct attributes of a buddha.”
This was the forty-seventh chapter, “Taming Greed,” of “The Perfection of Wisdom in Eighteen Thousand Lines.” [B36]