The Questions of an Old Lady

Homage to all buddhas and bodhisattvas.

Thus did I hear at one time. When the Bhagavān was traveling in the land of Vṛji, he went to the great city of Vaiśālī, together with a large saṅgha of one thousand two hundred and fifty bhikṣus and a vast number of bodhisattva mahāsattvas. At that time, he came across an old woman from the city gathering grass in the countryside. She was decrepit and had reached the end of her life-span, being one hundred and twenty years old.

The woman saw the Bhagavān coming from afar‍—handsome, inspiring, with senses tamed, mind tamed, endowed with supreme discipline and serenity, guarded, faultless, senses controlled, pure and clear like the sea, unclouded, upright like a golden sacrificial post, radiant with splendor clear and distinct, wonderfully adorned with the thirty-two signs of a great being. When she saw him, faith grew in her mind. Then full of devotion she approached [F.311.a] the Bhagavān, bowed her head at his feet, circumambulated the Bhagavān three times and sat to one side.

Bowing with her palms together in the direction of the Bhagavān, the woman then asked him, “O Bhagavān, where does birth come from? Where does aging come from? Where do they go? O Bhagavān, where does sickness come from? Where does death come from? Where do they go? O Bhagavān, where does form come from? Where do sensation, notions, formative factors and consciousness come from? Where do they go? O Bhagavān, where does the earth element come from? Where do the water element, the fire element, the wind element, the space element and the element of consciousness come from? Where do they go? O Bhagavān, where does the eye come from? Where do the ear, the nose, the tongue, the body and the mind come from? Where do they go?”

The Bhagavān replied, “Sister, birth does not come from anywhere. Aging does not come from anywhere. They do not go anywhere. Sister, sickness does not come from anywhere. Death does not come from anywhere. They do not go anywhere. Sister, form does not come from anywhere. Sensation, notions, formative factors and consciousness do not come from anywhere. They do not go anywhere. Sister, the earth element does not come from anywhere. The water element, the fire element, the wind element, the space element and the element of consciousness do not come from anywhere. They do not go anywhere. Sister, the eye does not come from anywhere. The ear, the nose, the tongue, the body and the mind do not come from anywhere. They do not go anywhere.

“Sister, it is as follows: as an analogy, a fire arises based on a stick to rub with, a stick to rub on, and and also a person’s effort to generate it. That fire, moreover, once it has burnt the grass and wood, will have no more causes and will die. Sister, where do you think the fire comes from and where does it go?”

She answered, “O Bhagavān, that fire comes into being owing to the power of a collection of causes. It ceases and dies when it lacks the collection of causes.”

The Bhagavān said, “Sister, likewise, all phenomena [F.311.b] come into being owing to the power of a collection. They cease and die when they lack the collection. Whatever the phenomena, they do not come from anywhere, nor do they go anywhere. Sister, it is as follows: although the eye consciousness arises based upon the eye and form, the eye consciousness does not have a producer, nor anything that makes it cease. Nowhere is it brought together at all. The aggregates do not come from anywhere, nor do they go anywhere. When one has accumulated karma through the conditions of the consciousnesses, the fruits manifest as the results of three types1 in the three realms. That fruit is empty too. It has no coming. It has no going. No one makes it arise. It is not stopped by anybody. Sister, all phenomena have stopped due to their very natures.

“Likewise, although the mental consciousness arises based upon the ear and sound, the nose and smell, the tongue and taste, the body and touch, and the mind and phenomena, the mental consciousness2 does not have a producer nor has it anything that makes it cease. Nowhere is it brought together at all.3 The aggregates do not come from anywhere, nor do they go anywhere either. When one has accumulated karma through the condition of mental consciousness, the fruits manifest as the results of three types in the three realms. That fruit is empty too. It has no coming. It has no going. No one makes it arise. It is not stopped by anybody. Sister, all phenomena are inherently stopped.

“Sister, it is as follows: as an analogy, the sound of a drum arises based on wood, hide and a stick, and also on a person’s effort to make it arise. The past sound of that drum was empty, the future sound will be empty and the sound that arises at present is empty. The sound does not dwell in the wood, neither does it dwell in the hide, nor does it dwell in the stick, nor does it dwell in the person’s hand. However, because of these conditions, it is termed sound. That which is termed sound is also empty. It has no coming. It has no going. No one makes it arise. It is not stopped by anybody. Sister, all phenomena are inherently stopped.

“Sister, likewise, all phenomena depend solely on conditions, i.e., ones such as ignorance, craving, karma and consciousness. When these latter phenomena are present, the terms death and birth are designated. [F.312.a] That which is designated death and birth is also empty. It has no coming. It has no going. No one makes it arise. It is not stopped by anybody. Sister, all phenomena are inherently stopped.

“Sister, in this way, whoever understands the nature of a drum’s sound well also understands emptiness well. Whoever understands emptiness well, understands nirvāṇa well. Whoever understands nirvāṇa well has no attachment to any entity, and despite designating conventional things with all sorts of terms‍—‘this is mine,’ or ‘that is me,’ or ‘sentient being,’ or ‘life force,’ or ‘living being,’ or ‘man,’ or ‘person,’ or ‘born of Manu,’ or ‘son of Manu,’ or ‘agent,’ or ‘inciter of action,’ or ‘appropriator,’ or ‘discarder’‍—he teaches Dharma without attachment to these. He teaches Dharma well. He teaches the final reality. He teaches the final reality well.

“Sister, it is as follows: an artist or an artist’s apprentice spreads various paints on a canvas that has been thoroughly cleaned or on a flat piece of wood or on the surface of a wall that has been wiped clean. He paints with ease whatever bodily shape he might wish, such as the features of a man’s physical form, the features of a woman’s physical form, the features of an elephant’s physical form, the features of a horse’s physical form or the features of a donkey’s physical form, with complete limbs, parts of limbs and all the sense faculties. Well executed though the painting may be, it does not involve any phenomenon at all being transferred from the artist’s hand or mind to the physical form depicted; and yet we designate that form as a result of those conditions. That which is designated form is also empty. It has no coming. It has no going. No one makes it arise. It is not stopped by anybody. Sister, all phenomena are inherently stopped.

“Sister, it is likewise when there are meritorious formative factors. That is to say, although bodies conducive to merit might result among gods and humans, in that case not even an atom is transferred from this world to the world beyond. However, due to the formative factors, [F.312.b] there are various kinds of rebirths. They are represented as physical bodies with their bases of cognition.

“It is likewise when there are demeritorious formative factors. That is to say, although bodies that are not meritorious result among hell beings, or in the animal state, or in the world of the Lord of Death, or among the demigods, not even an atom is transferred in such a case from this world to the world beyond. However, due to the formative factors there are various kinds of rebirths. They are understood to be physical forms with their bases of cognition.

“Sister, it is as follows: as an analogy, a vast gathering of clouds arises because of the nāga-power of the nāgas, and when those huge nets of clouds cover the earth they let fall a heavy deluge of rain. After the heavy deluge of rain has fallen, the hills and the valleys are quenched. When the hills and valleys are quenched, the rain later subsides. But these things do not originate from the nāgas’ bodies or minds. The nāgas produced the vast gathering of clouds by virtue of the nāga-powers of nāgas alone.

“Sister, it is likewise when there are meritorious formative factors, that is to say, when meritorious bodies result among gods or humans. It is likewise, too, when there are demeritorious formative factors. That is to say, although bodies that are not meritorious result among hells beings or in the animal state or the world of the Lord of Death or among the demigods, in such cases the activity of the formative factor is empty, the agent of the formative factor is empty and the fruits of the formative factor are also empty. Sister, when there are formative factors for remaining static, consciousness will reincarnate among the beings of the formless realms. That on account of which the consciousness reincarnates among beings of the formless realms is empty, and the consciousness which reincarnates among the beings of the formless realms is empty too. Why is this so? Sister, it is because all phenomena are empty of essence. Even so phenomena are designated. The learned are not attached to them. As they have no attachment they do not dispute. Having no disputes is the supreme quality of the religious mendicant.”

The woman said, [F.313.a] “Since the Bhagavān has taught the profound Dharma in this way, O Bhagavān, I, too, have penetrated these teachings with the eye of wisdom and will never be of two minds about them again. I have no doubts. O Bhagavān, earlier, as I hadn’t yet heard these teachings I did have doubts. Now I am old, I am decrepit, I suffer, I am poor, I have no protector, I have no life and yet I do not die. O Bhagavān, after hearing these teachings I realize that there is no aging, no poverty, no happiness, no sickness, nor is anyone ever ill, wealthy or poor at all. I am freed from the notion of a self.”

Then the Venerable Ānanda inquired of the Bhagavān, “Bhagavān, why have you taught such a profound Dharma discourse as this? I wonder whether it is because this woman, who has investigated so well in this way, is meritorious, learned and naturally wise.”

The Bhagavān replied, “Ānanda, so it is. Ānanda, it is indeed just as you say. This woman is meritorious, learned and naturally wise. Ānanda, this woman was my mother for five hundred lifetimes. Ānanda, in each of those lifetimes I also generated the roots of virtue so she could attain unsurpassable and perfectly complete enlightenment. Ānanda, I cherished, revered and respected this woman greatly. She, too, thought, ‘I will engage in whatever conduct my son engages in and attain the unsurpassable and perfectly complete enlightenment of the vehicle of happiness.’ ”

Ānanda inquired, “Bhagavān, why is she so poor in this way?”

The Bhagavān answered, “Ānanda, when I took up the conduct of a bodhisattva, I became a renunciate in the doctrine of the Bhagavān, the tathāgata, arhat, perfectly complete Buddha Krakucchanda. At that time, Ānanda, this woman was my mother. Because of her attachment she did not want to let me go, so I stopped eating my one meal per day. Later, she agreed to let me go. Ānanda, it is because of the ripening [F.313.b] of that karma that she is as poor as she is. Ānanda, this is the last time she will be poor. Ānanda, after death, this woman, who no longer craves a woman’s faculties, will obtain a man’s faculties in the Sukhāvatī buddhafield of the bhagavān, the perfectly complete buddha Amitābha. Once born there, she will make offerings to an innumerable, immeasurable, inconceivable number of buddhas; guide an innumerable, immeasurable, inconceivable number of sentient beings to enlightenment; make an innumerable, immeasurable, inconceivable number of sentient beings ripe for enlightenment; bring an innumerable, immeasurable, inconceivable number of sentient beings to enlightenment, and having brought an innumerable, immeasurable, inconceivable number of sentient beings to enlightenment, in six million eight hundred thousand kalpas she will become the Tathāgata, arhat, perfectly complete Buddha named Bodhyaṅga­puṣpa­kara in this trichiliocosm. Ānanda, the wealth and enjoyments of sentient beings of this buddha field will be like those of the gods of the Thirty-Three.”

Thus did the Bhagavān announce, and having spoken these words, the Sugata, the Teacher, added the following verses:

When the Bhagavān had spoken, the venerable Ānanda and the old lady, the bodhisattvas and bhikṣus, and the world with its gods, humans, demigods and gandharvas all rejoiced, and praised highly what the Bhagavān had taught.