The Perfection of Wisdom in Eighteen Thousand Lines
Chapter 76: The Armor for Bringing Beings to Maturity
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 76: The Armor for Bringing Beings to Maturity
Then venerable Subhūti inquired of the Lord, “Lord, if bodhisattva great beings practicing the six perfections, the thirty-seven dharmas on the side of awakening, the ten tathāgata powers, the four fearlessnesses, the four detailed and thorough knowledges, and the eighteen distinct attributes of a buddha still do not, having completed the fourteen emptinesses and the awakening path, have the good fortune to fully awaken to unsurpassed, perfect, complete awakening, well then, Lord, how will bodhisattva great beings fully awaken to unsurpassed, perfect, complete awakening?” [F.110.b]
“Subhūti,” replied the Lord, “when bodhisattva great beings practice the perfection of wisdom with skillful means, they practice the perfection of giving without apprehending giving, without apprehending a benefactor and recipient, and without practicing any dharmas other than those. It is then that the bodhisattva great beings embark upon the awakening path. Subhūti, bodhisattva great beings practicing the perfection of wisdom with skillful means like that will fully awaken to unsurpassed, perfect, complete awakening. Similarly, connect this with all the five perfections, up to the eighteen distinct attributes of a buddha.”
Then venerable Śāriputra asked the Lord, “Lord, how do bodhisattva great beings practicing the perfection of wisdom make an effort at the awakening path?”
Venerable Śāriputra having asked that, the Lord said to him, “Śāriputra, here bodhisattva great beings practicing the perfection of wisdom with skillful means do not engage with and do not disengage from form. And why? Śāriputra, it is because there is no intrinsic nature of form to engage with or become disengaged from; up to they do not engage with and do not become disengaged from consciousness. And why? Because there is no intrinsic nature of consciousness to engage with or become disengaged from. They do not engage with and do not become disengaged from the perfection of giving. And why? Because it has no intrinsic nature to engage with or become disengaged from. Similarly, connect this with each, up to the perfection of wisdom and the eighteen [F.111.a] distinct attributes of a buddha.”
“Lord, if there is no intrinsic nature of a dharma to engage with or become disengaged from, well then, how will the perfection of wisdom in which bodhisattva great beings are supposed to train be accomplished? Without having trained in the perfection of wisdom, bodhisattva great beings will not be able to fully awaken to unsurpassed, perfect, complete awakening.”
“Exactly so, Śāriputra, exactly so! It is exactly as you say! Without having trained in the perfection of wisdom, bodhisattva great beings will not be able to awaken fully to unsurpassed, perfect, complete awakening, Furthermore, it is done with skillful means, not without skillful means.
“Śāriputra, if bodhisattva great beings practicing the perfection of wisdom were to apprehend an intrinsic nature of any dharma, they would grasp them. But they do not apprehend them, so there is no chance they will grasp at ‘this is the perfection of wisdom, this is the perfection of concentration, this is the perfection of perseverance, this is the perfection of patience, this is the perfection of morality, this is the perfection of giving, this is form,’ up to ‘this is consciousness,’ up to ‘these are the buddhadharmas.’ If they do not apprehend . . . , up to ‘this is awakening,’ what will they grasp? Śāriputra, the perfection of wisdom cannot be grasped, up to the buddhadharmas cannot be grasped. Śāriputra, this perfection is a perfection of the absence of grasping, so it is a perfection of wisdom. [F.111.b] Bodhisattva great beings should train in it. Given that bodhisattva great beings training in it do not apprehend even the training, what need is there to mention awakening, what need is there to mention the perfection of wisdom, what need is there to mention the bodhisattva dharmas, what need is there to mention the buddha dharmas, and what need is there to mention the śrāvaka dharmas, pratyekabuddha dharmas, or the dharmas of ordinary people? And why? Śāriputra, it is because whatever the dharma, its intrinsic nature does not exist, so, where all dharmas have no intrinsic nature, what dharmas of ordinary people are there, what stream enterer, once-returner, non-returner, worthy one, and pratyekabuddha dharmas; and what state of a worthy one, pratyekabuddha’s awakening, bodhisattva, or unsurpassed, perfect, complete awakening? If those persons cannot be apprehended—those dharmas on account of which they say, ‘This is an ordinary person,’ up to ‘this is a tathāgata,