The Perfection of Wisdom in Eighteen Thousand Lines
Chapter 71: The True Nature of Dharmas That Cannot Be Apprehended
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
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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 71: The True Nature of Dharmas That Cannot Be Apprehended
The Lord having said that, venerable Subhūti asked him, “Lord, if all phenomena are the nonexistence of an intrinsic nature, Lord, what reality do bodhisattva great beings who have set out for unsurpassed, perfect, complete awakening for the welfare of beings see?”
“Subhūti,” replied the Lord, “just as all phenomena are the nonexistence of an intrinsic nature, in exactly the same way bodhisattva great beings set out for unsurpassed, perfect, complete awakening. And why? Subhūti, an apprehended object is severely limiting. Someone who perceives an apprehended object has no attainment, has no clear realization, and has no unsurpassed, perfect, complete awakening.”
“Lord, without an apprehended object is there attainment, is there clear realization, and is there unsurpassed, perfect, complete awakening?”
“Subhūti, just the absence of an apprehended object is attainment, the attainment of just the absence of an apprehended object is clear realization, and just the absence of an apprehended object is unsurpassed, perfect, complete awakening, because it does not complicate the dharma-constituent. To want an attainment, [F.46.b] or clear realization, or unsurpassed, perfect, complete awakening, which is just the absence of an apprehended object, is simply to want to complicate the dharma-constituent.”
“Lord, if in the absence of an apprehended object there is no attainment, there is no clear realization, and there is no unsurpassed, perfect, complete awakening,698 if just the absence of an apprehended object is attainment, just the absence of an apprehended object is clear realization, and just the absence of an apprehended object is unsurpassed, perfect, complete awakening, in that case, Lord, how will there be the bodhisattva great beings’ first level, how a second level, up to how a tenth level; how will there be forbearance for the nonproduction of dharmas? How will there be the five clairvoyances arisen from maturation,699 how will there be giving arisen from maturation, how will there be morality arisen from maturation, how will there be patience arisen from maturation, how will there be perseverance arisen from maturation, how will there be concentration arisen from maturation, and how will there be wisdom arisen from maturation? How will there be those maturation dharmas of these bodhisattvas that are in an unbroken stream, and situated in which they bring beings to maturity, purify a buddhafield, and attend on the lord buddhas with food, drink, clothes, transportation, incense, garlands, beds, seats, lamps, and things that make human life enjoyable—food and so on that does not finish even though the maturation is for the worship of the physical remains of the buddhas after complete nirvāṇa, for as long as they remain, and for the śrāvakas?”
Venerable Subhūti having thus inquired, the Lord said to him, “Subhūti, it is just because of that absence of an apprehended object that there is a first level, [F.47.a] up to a tenth level; and it is just because of it that there are the clairvoyances arisen from maturation, that there are those wholesome roots on account of which they work for the welfare of beings, up to and even after having passed into complete nirvāṇa there are still the acts of worship. It is just because of it that giving arisen from maturation exists, as well as morality, patience, perseverance, concentration, and wisdom arisen from maturation. It is just because of it that wholesome roots arisen from maturation exist.”
The Lord having said that, venerable Subhūti asked, “Lord, what distinction and what differentiation is there between the absence of an apprehended object, and giving, morality, patience, perseverance, concentration, wisdom, and the clairvoyances?”
Venerable Subhūti having asked that, the Lord said to him, “Subhūti, there is no differentiation at all between giving, up to the clairvoyances in the absence of an apprehended object. Subhūti, an exposition is made differentiating between unsullied giving, morality, patience, perseverance, concentration, wisdom, and the clairvoyances.”
“Lord, how is an exposition made that differentiates between unapprehended giving, morality, patience, perseverance, concentration, wisdom, and the clairvoyances?”
“Subhūti, here when bodhisattva great beings are practicing the perfection of wisdom they give a gift without apprehending something to be given, without apprehending a recipient, without apprehending a giver, and without apprehending giving; they guard morality without apprehending morality as an object, cause patience to arise without apprehending patience as an object, make an effort at perseverance without apprehending perseverance as an object, become absorbed in concentration without apprehending concentration as an object, cultivate wisdom without apprehending wisdom as an object, and practice [F.47.b] the clairvoyances without apprehending the clairvoyant knowledges as an object; they cultivate the applications of mindfulness without apprehending the applications of mindfulness as an object, up to cultivate the eightfold noble path without apprehending the eightfold noble path as an object; they cultivate the three meditative stabilizations without apprehending the emptiness meditative stabilization, signlessness meditative stabilization, up to or wishlessness meditative stabilization as an object; they bring beings to maturity without apprehending beings as an object; they purify a buddhafield without apprehending a buddhafield as an object; and they fully awaken to awakening without apprehending the buddhadharmas as an object. Subhūti, in that way bodhisattva great beings practice the perfection of wisdom without apprehending anything. Subhūti, Māra and the Māra class of gods are hard pressed to overpower bodhisattva great beings practicing the perfection of wisdom in that way.”
The Lord having said that, venerable Subhūti asked him, “Lord, when bodhisattva great beings are practicing the perfection of wisdom, how do they incorporate the six perfections in a single thought; how do they incorporate the four concentrations, four immeasurables, four formless absorptions, four applications of mindfulness, four right efforts, four legs of miraculous power, five faculties, five powers, seven limbs of awakening, and eightfold noble path; and how do they incorporate the three gateways to liberation, ten tathāgata powers, four fearlessnesses, four detailed and thorough knowledges, great compassion, eighteen distinct attributes of a buddha, and the thirty-two major marks and eighty minor signs of a great person?”
“Subhūti, here when bodhisattva great beings are practicing the perfection of wisdom, [F.48.a] whatever gift they give, their giving is informed by nothing other than the perfection of wisdom. Whatever morality they guard, whatever patience they cultivate, whatever perseverance they make an effort at, and whatever concentration they become absorbed in, they are informed by nothing other than the perfection of wisdom. Whatever concentrations they become absorbed in, they too are informed by nothing other than the perfection of wisdom; whatever immeasurables they become absorbed in, they too are informed by nothing other than the perfection of wisdom; and whatever formless absorptions they become absorbed in, they too are informed by nothing other than the perfection of wisdom. Whatever applications of mindfulness they cultivate, and similarly, connect this with each, up to the eighty minor signs of a great person, they are informed by nothing other than the perfection of wisdom.”
The Lord having said that, venerable Subhūti asked, “Lord, how, informed by the perfection of wisdom, do bodhisattva great beings incorporate the six perfections in a single thought, and similarly, up to how do they incorporate the eighty minor signs?”
“Subhūti, here when bodhisattva great beings are practicing the perfection of wisdom, whatever gift they give, it is informed by nothing other than the perfection of wisdom and they do not have a dualistic notion about it. Whatever morality they guard, they do not have a dualistic notion about it; whatever patience they cultivate, they do not have a dualistic notion about it; whatever perseverance they make an effort at, they do not have a dualistic notion about it; whatever concentration they become absorbed in, they do not have a dualistic notion about it, and similarly, connect this with each, up to . . . the eighty minor signs they accomplish, they do not have a dualistic notion about them.” [F.48.b]
“Lord,, when bodhisattva great beings are practicing the perfection of wisdom, how do they not, when giving a gift, have a dualistic notion about it, and similarly, up to when they accomplish the eighty minor signs, how do they not have a dualistic notion about them?”
“Subhūti, here when bodhisattva great beings are practicing the perfection of wisdom, they complete the perfection of giving. Having included all six perfections within their perfection of giving, they give gifts. Similarly, they complete all the dharmas on the side of awakening, up to and having included all six perfections within the path, they cultivate the path.
“Subhūti, here when the time is right for bodhisattva great beings practicing the perfection of wisdom to give a gift, they give the gift while remaining in a thought without outflows. Remaining in a thought without outflows, they do not see causal signs of ‘someone to whom I am giving,’ ‘something I am giving,’ or ‘someone who is giving.’ They give the gift with a thought free from causal signs, with a thought without outflows, without craving, and without ignorance. They do not even see the thought, do not even see the giving, up to and do not see all dharmas.
“Furthermore, Subhūti, here when bodhisattva great beings are practicing the perfection of wisdom, they guard morality with a thought free from causal signs. They do not even see the morality, up to do not see all dharmas. They cultivate