The Perfection of Wisdom in Twenty-Five Thousand Lines
Chapter 61
Toh 9
Degé Kangyur, vol. 26 (shes phyin, nyi khri, ka), folios 1.b–382.a; vol. 27 (shes phyin, nyi khri, kha), folios 1.b–393.a; and vol. 28 (shes phyin, nyi khri, ga), folios 1.b–381.a
Translated by the Padmakara Translation Group
under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha
First published 2023
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Table of Contents
Summary
The Perfection of Wisdom in Twenty-Five Thousand Lines is among the most important scriptures underlying both the “vast” and the “profound” approaches to Buddhist thought and practice. Known as the “middle-length” version, being the second longest of the three long Perfection of Wisdom sūtras, it fills three volumes of the Kangyur. Like the two other long sūtras, it records the major teaching on the perfection of wisdom given by the Buddha Śākyamuni on Vulture Peak, detailing all aspects of the path to enlightenment while at the same time emphasizing how bodhisattvas must put them into practice without taking them—or any aspects of enlightenment itself—as having even the slightest true existence.
Acknowledgements
Translation by the Padmakara Translation Group. A complete draft by Gyurme Dorje was first edited by Charles Hastings, then revised and further edited by John Canti. The introduction was written by John Canti. We are grateful for the advice and help received from Gareth Sparham, Greg Seton, and Nathaniel Rich.
This translation is dedicated to the memory of our late colleague, long-time friend, and vajra brother Gyurme Dorje (1950–2020), who worked assiduously on this translation in his final years and into the very last months of his life. We would also like to express our gratitude to his wife, Xiaohong, for the extraordinary support she gave him on so many levels.
The translation was completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.
The generous sponsorship of Kris Yao and Xiang-Jen Yao, which helped make the work on this translation possible, is most gratefully acknowledged.
Chapter 61
Then the venerable Subhūti asked the Blessed One, “Blessed Lord, since all phenomena are indivisible, signless, and empty of their own defining characteristics, how could the cultivation of the six perfections, namely the perfection of generosity, the perfection of ethical discipline, the perfection of tolerance, the perfection of perseverance, the perfection of meditative concentration, and the perfection of wisdom, be fulfilled? How indeed are contaminated and uncontaminated phenomena differentiated? How is the perfection of generosity gathered in the perfection of wisdom? How are the perfection of ethical discipline, [F.203.b] the perfection of tolerance, the perfection of perseverance, and the perfection of meditative concentration gathered in the perfection of wisdom? How are [all causal and fruitional attributes], up to and including the distinct qualities of the buddhas, gathered in the perfection of wisdom? Blessed Lord, how is it conceived that such phenomena do indeed have different defining characteristics when their sole defining characteristic is that they are without defining characteristics?”
The Blessed One replied to the venerable Subhūti, “In this regard, Subhūti, when bodhisattva great beings practice the perfection of wisdom, they dispense generosity, maintain ethical discipline, cultivate tolerance, undertake perseverance, cultivate meditative stability, and cultivate wisdom while abiding in the five acquisitive aggregates that are dreamlike. They dispense generosity, maintain ethical discipline, cultivate tolerance, undertake perseverance, cultivate meditative stability, and cultivate wisdom while abiding in the five acquisitive aggregates that are like a magical display, like a mirage, like an optical aberration, like an echo, like a reflection, like a gandharva spirit town, and like a phantom. They should reflect that the five acquisitive aggregates, which are dreamlike, are without defining characteristics, and that the five acquisitive aggregates, which are like a magical display, like a mirage, like an optical aberration, like an echo, like a reflection, like a gandharva spirit town, and like a phantom, are without defining characteristics. If you ask why, it is because a dream is without any essential nature, and a magical display, a mirage, an optical aberration, an echo, a reflection, a gandharva spirit town, [F.204.a] and a phantom are without any essential nature. {Ki.VII: 30} Anything that is without essential nature is without defining characteristics. That which is without defining characteristics has the sole defining characteristic that it is without defining characteristics.
“For this reason, Subhūti, you should know that generosity is without defining characteristics, the dispenser [of generosity] is without defining characteristics, and the recipient is without defining characteristics. Those who dispense generosity [and so forth], while knowing this, fulfill the perfection of generosity. When they fulfill the perfection of generosity they do not turn away from the perfection of ethical discipline. They do not turn away from the perfection of tolerance, the perfection of perseverance, the perfection of meditative concentration, or the perfection of wisdom. Abiding in these six perfections, they perfect the four meditative concentrations, and they perfect the four immeasurable attitudes and the four formless absorptions. They perfect the four applications of mindfulness, and they perfect the four correct exertions, the four supports for miraculous ability, the five faculties, the five powers, the seven branches of enlightenment, and the noble eightfold path. They perfect the emptiness of internal phenomena and [the other aspects of emptiness], up to and including the emptiness of the essential nature of nonentities. They perfect the meditative stability of emptiness, the meditative stability of signlessness, the meditative stability of wishlessness, the eight aspects of liberation, the nine serial steps of meditative absorption, the extrasensory powers, the meditative stabilities, the dhāraṇī gateways, the kinds of exact knowledge, [F.204.b] the ten powers of the tathāgatas, the four fearlessnesses, great loving kindness, great compassion, and the eighteen distinct qualities of the buddhas.
“Abiding in these attributes of the noble ones, which arise from the maturation [of past actions] and are indeed supramundane and uncommon, they travel to the immeasurable, countless, and inestimable world systems of the ten directions through their miraculous ability, and approach all the lord buddhas who reside in them, and venerate them with robes, alms, bedding, medicines, and many useful things. They act for the sake of beings through all sorts of resources and joys. They attract through their generosity those beings who are attracted by generosity. They attract through their wisdom [and so forth] those who are attracted by ethical discipline, tolerance, perseverance, meditative concentration, and wisdom. They attract through all-aspect omniscience [and all the attributes and goals] those who are attracted by [all the attributes and goals], up to and including all-aspect omniscience. They attract through their respective virtuous attributes those who are attracted by the corresponding virtuous attributes. Endowed with those roots of virtuous action and with mastery over all phenomena, they accept [rebirth] in cyclic existence, but are untainted by the sufferings of cyclic existence. For the sake of beings, they accept the excellent resources of gods and humans. They attract beings with those excellent resources. Knowing that all phenomena are without defining characteristics, [F.205.a] they know the fruit of entering the stream to nirvāṇa but do not dwell in it. They know the fruit of being destined for only one more rebirth, {Ki.VII: 31} the fruit of no longer being subject to rebirth, and arhatship, but they do not dwell in them. They know individual enlightenment, but they do not dwell in it. If you ask why, it is because, having known all phenomena, they attain the all-aspect omniscience that is uncommon to the śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas. So it is, Subhūti, that bodhisattva great beings, who know all phenomena to be without defining characteristics, know that the six perfections are without defining characteristics. They know that [all the attributes and goals], up to and including all-aspect omniscience, are without defining characteristics.
“Moreover, Subhūti, when bodhisattva great beings practice the perfection of wisdom, they complete the perfection of ethical discipline, while abiding in the five acquisitive aggregates that are dreamlike, and abiding in the five acquisitive aggregates that are like a magical display, like a mirage, like an optical aberration, like an echo, like a reflection, like a gandharva spirit town, and like a phantom. Subhūti, knowing the five acquisitive aggregates to be dreamlike, and knowing the five acquisitive aggregates to be like a magical display, like a mirage, like an optical aberration, like an echo, like a reflection, like a gandharva spirit town, and like a phantom, these bodhisattva great beings also complete the perfection of ethical discipline, which is without defining characteristics, undamaged, unimpaired, faultless, unsullied, nondegenerate, abundant in splendor, praised by the learned, utterly perfect, sublime, uncontaminated, [F.205.b] included in the path, and supramundane.
“Maintaining these attributes, they maintain the conventional ethical disciplines523 in which precepts are adopted, and they also maintain ethical discipline acquired on the basis of the true nature, ethical discipline conjoined with restraint,524 ethical discipline that is apprehended, ethical discipline that is habitual, and ethical discipline that is not habitual. Endowed with such ethical disciplines, they do not assert the supremacy of anything at all, and so they lay no claims by thinking, ‘Through this ethical discipline, may I be reborn equal in fortune to the great and lofty royal families, or may I be reborn equal in fortune to the great and lofty priestly families, or among the great and lofty householder families!’ They lay no claims by thinking, ‘May I become a minor king or a universal emperor! May I be reborn equal in fortune to the gods of the Caturmahārājakāyika realm! May I be reborn equal in fortune to the gods of the Trayastriṃśa realm, to those of the Yāma realm, or those of the Tuṣita realm, those of the Nirmāṇarata realm, and those of the Paranirmitavaśavartin realm! {Ki.VII: 32} May I attain the fruit of one who has entered the stream to nirvāṇa! May I attain the fruit of one destined for only one more rebirth, or the fruit of one no longer subject to rebirth, arhatship, individual enlightenment, or [unsurpassed, complete] enlightenment!’
“If you ask why, it is because all phenomena are without defining characteristics. Since they have a sole defining characteristic—the defining characteristic of the essential nature of nonentity—phenomena that are without defining characteristics cannot acquire phenomena that are without defining characteristics. Nor can phenomena that have dissimilar defining characteristics acquire phenomena that have dissimilar defining characteristics. Nor can phenomena with dissimilar defining characteristics or without defining characteristics acquire phenomena with dissimilar defining characteristics or without defining characteristics. So it is, Subhūti, that bodhisattva great beings who practice the perfection of wisdom will complete the perfection of ethical discipline that is without defining characteristics, [F.206.a] and then embark on the maturity of the bodhisattvas. When they have embarked on the maturity of the bodhisattvas, they will accept that phenomena are nonarising. When they engage in knowledge of the path, they will attain the five extrasensory powers that arise through the maturation [of past actions], and then they will dwell in the five hundred dhāraṇī gateways and the five hundred gateways of meditative stability. Having attained the four kinds of exact knowledge, they will venerate the lord buddhas. Traveling from buddhafield to buddhafield, they will bring beings to maturation, and also acquire the buddhafields. Even if they frequent cyclic existence with its five classes of living beings, they will never be tainted by the ripening of past actions that is associated with cyclic existence. Just as a phantom may stand, move, rest, sit, or even lie down, but no going, coming, resting, sitting, or lying down is apprehended, in the same way they may even act on behalf of beings, but they do not apprehend beings or even the concept of a being. [B66]
“Subhūti, just as a tathāgata, arhat, completely awakened buddha, who is said to be utterly at peace, may attain consummate buddhahood in unsurpassed, complete enlightenment, and then turn the wheel of the Dharma, and even after causing immeasurable beings to attain final nirvāṇa through the two vehicles, may no longer discern any such bodhisattva prophesied to attain unsurpassed, complete enlightenment, and let go of the formative predispositions of his [current] lifespan while sending forth an emanation, [F.206.b] and pass into final nirvāṇa in the expanse of nirvāṇa, where there is no residue of the aggregates—and that emanation, Subhūti, would then, after one eon has passed, prophesy bodhisattva great beings to attain unsurpassed, complete enlightenment and itself pass into final nirvāṇa, {Ki.VII: 33} although no physical form, feelings, perceptions, formative predispositions, consciousness, or entity could be apprehended at all with respect to that [emanation] that has attained final nirvāṇa—in the same way, Subhūti, bodhisattva great beings do not apprehend beings or the concept of a being, and yet they indeed act on behalf of beings. So it is, Subhūti, that when bodhisattva great beings practice the perfection of wisdom, they complete the perfection of ethical discipline without defining characteristics.
“Moreover, Subhūti, when bodhisattva great beings practice the perfection of wisdom, they complete the perfection of tolerance without defining characteristics, while abiding in the five acquisitive aggregates that are dreamlike, and abiding in the five acquisitive aggregates that are like an echo, like an optical aberration, like a magical display, like a mirage, and like a phantom.
“Subhūti, if you ask how bodhisattva great beings complete the perfection of tolerance while maintaining attributes that are without defining characteristics, in this regard, Subhūti, bodhisattva great beings complete the perfection of tolerance through two modes of tolerance. [F.207.a] If you ask what these two are, they comprise the tolerance of the experience [of suffering] and the tolerance that understands phenomena. If you ask what is the tolerance of the experience [of suffering], this implies that, starting from the time when they first begin to set their mind on enlightenment until they are seated at the site of enlightenment, even if all beings were to approach those bodhisattva great beings and reprimand them, or rebuke them with unpleasant words and speak mendacious and harsh words, or strike or beat them with clods of earth, clubs, and weapons, seeking to complete the perfection of tolerance, these bodhisattva great beings would not have even the slightest thought imbued with anger or malice. But they should above all cultivate compassion for those beings, thinking, ‘Alas, these beings are tormented by the ailments of afflicted mental states. I should not have negative thoughts toward them. Rather, I should accept them because I have accepted those aggregates that are inimical.’ Imbued with loving kindness and resorting to compassion, such reflections are called the tolerance of the experience [of suffering].
“If you ask what is the tolerance that understands phenomena, since even those beings are ultimately nonapprehensible, [bodhisattvas] should think, ‘Who is scolding me, reprimanding me with unpleasant words, or speaking mendacious and harsh words? Who is beating me with clods and clubs, or striking me with weapons? All formative predispositions are illusion-like. They are hollow, void, vacuous, and like space. They are without self, any sentient beings, life forms, living beings, life, living creatures, individual personalities, human beings, or persons. Since all these conceptual thoughts derive from imagination, who is scolding me, reprimanding me with unpleasant words, or speaking mendacious and harsh words? Who is beating me with clods and clubs, or striking me with weapons? [F.207.b] Owing to the emptiness of essential nature and owing to the emptiness of ultimate reality, I should not conceptualize in these ways.’ This is called the tolerance that understands phenomena. Reflecting in that manner, they perfect the perfection of tolerance. Those who have perfected the perfection of tolerance attain the acceptance that phenomena are nonarising.”
Then Subhūti asked, “Blessed Lord, what is the acceptance that phenomena are nonarising? What is its extent? What is its cognition?”
“Subhūti,” replied the Blessed One, “not even the slightest phenomena arise—this denotes nonarising. Acceptance is said to be that through which it is cognized. Through this cognition, they acquire the acceptance that phenomena are nonarising.” {Ki.VII: 34}
“Blessed Lord, what are the distinctions between the acceptance that śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas have with respect to [the truth] that phenomena are nonarising, and the acceptance that bodhisattvas have with respect to [the truth] that phenomena are nonarising?”
“Subhūti,” replied the Blessed One, “the acceptance of bodhisattva great beings includes the cognition and correct exertion of those who enter the stream to nirvāṇa. The acceptance of bodhisattva great beings includes the cognition and correct exertion of those who are destined for only one more rebirth. The acceptance of bodhisattva great beings includes the cognition and correct exertion of those who are no longer subject to rebirth. The acceptance of the bodhisattva great beings includes the cognition and correct exertion of those who are arhats. The acceptance of bodhisattva great beings includes the cognition and correct exertion of those who are pratyekabuddhas. [F.208.a] This then is the distinction between the acceptance of the śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas, and the acceptance of the bodhisattvas.
“Subhūti, bodhisattva great beings who possess such acceptance surpass all the śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas. Abiding in this acceptance that phenomena are nonarising, which derives from the maturation [of past actions], they practice the path of the bodhisattvas, and perfect the knowledge of the path. By perfecting this, they will not lack the thirty-seven factors conducive to enlightenment, or the meditative stabilities of emptiness, signlessness, and wishlessness. They will not lack the five extrasensory powers, and since they will not lack the five extrasensory powers, they will bring beings to maturation, and refine the buddhafields. Having brought beings to maturation and refined the buddhafields, they will attain all-aspect omniscience through the wisdom of a single instant. So it is, Subhūti, that when bodhisattva great beings practice the perfection of wisdom, they will perfect the perfection of tolerance, which is without defining characteristics.
“Moreover, Subhūti, when bodhisattva great beings practice the perfection of wisdom, they exert physical and mental perseverance, while abiding in the five acquisitive aggregates that are dreamlike, and abiding in the five acquisitive aggregates that are like an echo, like an optical aberration, like a magical display, like a mirage, and like a phantom. Through physical perseverance, they actualize miraculous abilities; {Ki.VII: 35} [F.208.b] traversing the world systems of all the cardinal and intermediate directions, they act for the sake of beings and refine the buddhafields. Through physical perseverance, they will bring beings to maturation, encourage them to engage in the three vehicles, and establish them in those vehicles. So it is, Subhūti, that when bodhisattva great beings practice the perfection of wisdom, they will perfect the perfection of tolerance, which is without defining characteristics.
“One who possesses mental perseverance, which is included within the path and the branches of the path free from contaminants, will perfect the integration of all the following virtuous attributes: the four applications of mindfulness, the four correct exertions, the four supports for miraculous ability, the five faculties, the five powers, the seven branches of enlightenment, the noble eightfold path, the three gateways to liberation, the four meditative concentrations, the four immeasurable attitudes, the four formless absorptions, the eight aspects of liberation, the nine serial steps of meditative absorption, the ten powers of the tathāgatas, the four fearlessnesses, the four kinds of exact knowledge, great loving kindness, great compassion, and the eighteen distinct qualities of the buddhas. Practicing in that manner, bodhisattva great beings will perfect all-aspect omniscience, and by perfecting that, they will abandon all the connecting propensities. Having abandoned all the connecting propensities, they will perfect the excellent major marks, [F.209.a] and after acquiring an aureole, they will turn the wheel of the Dharma, in the three times and in its twelve aspects. Through this turning [of the wheel], the world systems of the great trichiliocosm will shake, shudder, and judder in six ways;525 they will rock, reel, and totter, and they will quiver, careen, and convulse.
“All world systems of the great trichiliocosm will also be permeated with great luminosity. The words of the tathāgatas, arhats, completely awakened buddhas, wherever they arise and their intonation resonates, will be heard by all those beings who are present in the world systems of the great trichiliocosm. All of them will attain emancipation through the three vehicles. Subhūti, this perfection of perseverance that bodhisattva great beings have is endowed with such great benefits. Abiding in the perfection of perseverance, bodhisattva great beings will perfect all the attributes of the buddhas and attain all-aspect omniscience.
“Moreover, Subhūti, when bodhisattva great beings practice the perfection of wisdom, they complete the perfection of meditative stability,526 while abiding in the five acquisitive aggregates that are dreamlike, and abiding in the five acquisitive aggregates that are like an echo, like an optical aberration, like a magical display, like a mirage, {Ki.VII: 36} and like a phantom. If you ask why, in this regard, Subhūti, those bodhisattva great beings who practice the perfection of wisdom will achieve and maintain the first meditative concentration, and then they will achieve and maintain the second meditative concentration, [F.209.b] the third meditative concentration, and the fourth meditative concentration. They will also achieve and maintain loving kindness, compassion, empathetic joy, and equanimity, and they will achieve and maintain [the formless absorptions in] the sphere of infinite space, the sphere of infinite consciousness, the sphere of nothing-at-all, and the sphere of neither perception nor nonperception. They will cultivate the meditative stabilities of emptiness, signlessness, and wishlessness. They will cultivate the meditative stability that resembles lightning. They will cultivate the authentic meditative stability. With the exception of dwelling in the vajra-like meditative stability and [attaining] the meditative stabilities of the tathāgatas, they will also achieve and maintain all the meditative stabilities of the śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas, and any other categories of meditative stability and meditative absorption, their bodies permeated with them all. But they will not relish these meditative stabilities or the fruits of these meditative absorptions. If you ask why, it is because bodhisattva great beings understand that these meditative stabilities are without defining characteristics and have an essential nature of nonentity. So how could anything without defining characteristics possibly relish an attribute that is without defining characteristics! How could anything that is a nonentity possibly relish something that is a nonentity! Since they do not relish anything, they will not be reborn through the power of these meditative stabilities in the realm of form or in the realm of formlessness. If you ask why, it is because they do not even apprehend those two realms, nor do they apprehend anyone entering into absorption, nor anything by which they would enter into absorption. Since all phenomena are nonapprehensible, they will complete the perfection of meditative stability that is without defining characteristics. [F.210.a] Through this perfection of meditative stability, they will transcend the levels of the śrāvakas and the pratyekabuddhas.”
“Blessed Lord, how do bodhisattva great beings complete the perfection of meditative stability and transcend the levels of the śrāvakas and the pratyekabuddhas?”
“Subhūti,” replied the Blessed One, “bodhisattva great beings have been well trained in the emptiness of internal phenomena, and they have been well trained in the emptiness of external phenomena, the emptiness of external and internal phenomena, and in [all the other aspects of emptiness], up to and including the emptiness of the essential nature of nonentities. So, with respect to these aspects of emptiness, they do not apprehend anything at all that would attain the fruit of entering the stream to nirvāṇa, or the fruit of being destined for only one more rebirth, or the fruit of no longer being subject to rebirth, or arhatship, or individual enlightenment, or anything in which they should dwell. All-aspect omniscience, too, is empty of these aspects of emptiness. Through these aspects of emptiness, they will absolutely transcend the levels of the śrāvakas and the pratyekabuddhas, {Ki.VII: 37} and enter a bodhisattva’s full maturity.”
“Blessed Lord, what is the immaturity of bodhisattva great beings, and what is the maturity of the bodhisattvas?”
“Subhūti, all apprehending constitutes the immaturity of bodhisattva great beings. All nonapprehension constitutes their maturity,” replied the Blessed One.
“Blessed Lord, what is apprehending? What is the nonapprehension?”
“Subhūti,” replied the Blessed One, “physical forms [F.210.b] constitute apprehending for bodhisattva great beings. Subhūti, feelings, perceptions, formative predispositions, and consciousness constitute apprehending for bodhisattva great beings. The eyes and sights constitute apprehending for bodhisattva great beings. The ears and sounds, the nose and odors, the tongue and tastes, the body and tangibles, and the mental faculty and mental phenomena constitute apprehending for bodhisattva great beings. Visual consciousness, visually compounded sensory contact, and feelings conditioned by visually compounded sensory contact constitute apprehending. Auditory consciousness, olfactory consciousness, gustatory consciousness, tactile consciousness, mental consciousness, mentally compounded sensory contact [and so forth], and feelings conditioned by mentally compounded sensory contact [and so forth], all constitute apprehending. The earth element, the water element, the fire element, the wind element, the space element, and the consciousness element constitute apprehending. Fundamental ignorance, formative predispositions, consciousness, name and form, the six sense fields, sensory contact, sensation, craving, grasping, the rebirth process, actual birth, and aging and death constitute apprehending. All the perfections, all the aspects of emptiness, all the factors conducive to enlightenment, the truths of the noble ones, the meditative concentrations, the formless absorptions, the eight aspects of liberation, the nine serial steps of meditative absorption, emptiness, signlessness, wishlessness, the extrasensory powers, the meditative stabilities, the dhāraṇī gateways, the ten powers of the tathāgatas, the four fearlessnesses, the four kinds of exact knowledge, [F.211.a] great loving kindness, great compassion, and the eighteen distinct qualities of the buddhas all constitute apprehending. [All the goals], up to and including all-aspect omniscience, constitute apprehending. These are indicative of the immaturity [of bodhisattva great beings].
“Subhūti, the maturity [of bodhisattva great beings] is that in which even the expressions of these attributes are nonapprehensible—from physical forms, feelings, perceptions, formative predispositions, consciousness, the sense fields, the sensory elements, the links of dependent origination, all the perfections, all the aspects of emptiness, all the factors conducive to enlightenment, the truths of the noble ones, the meditative concentrations, the formless absorptions, the eight aspects of liberation, the nine serial steps of meditative absorption, emptiness, signlessness, wishlessness, the extrasensory powers, the meditative stabilities, the dhāraṇī gateways, the ten powers of the tathāgatas, the four fearlessnesses, the four kinds of exact knowledge, great loving kindness, great compassion, the eighteen distinct qualities of the buddhas, [and to all the goals], up to and including all-aspect omniscience.
“If you ask why, Subhūti, it is because physical forms are without inherent existence, and whatever is without inherent existence is indescribable. Feelings, perceptions, formative predispositions, and consciousness are without inherent existence, and whatever is without inherent existence is indescribable. The sense fields, the sensory elements, and the links of dependent origination are without inherent existence, and whatever is without inherent existence is indescribable. {Ki.VII: 38} All the perfections, all the aspects of emptiness, and all the factors conducive to enlightenment are without inherent existence, and whatever is without inherent existence is indescribable. The noble [F.211.b] truths, the meditative concentrations, the formless absorptions, the eight aspects of liberation, the nine serial steps of meditative absorption, emptiness, signlessness, wishlessness, the extrasensory powers, the meditative stabilities, and the dhāraṇī gateways are without inherent existence, and whatever is without inherent existence is indescribable. The ten powers of the tathāgatas, the four fearlessnesses, the four kinds of exact knowledge, great loving kindness, great compassion, and the eighteen distinct qualities of the buddhas are without inherent existence, and whatever is without inherent existence is indescribable. [All the goals], up to and including all-aspect omniscience, are without inherent existence, and whatever is without inherent existence is indescribable. These, Subhūti, are indicative of the maturity of bodhisattva great beings.
“If bodhisattva great beings perfect all the meditative stabilities and meditative absorptions that enter into this maturity, and indeed will not be reborn on account of these meditative stabilities and meditative absorptions, how could they possibly be reborn through desire, hatred, or delusion, let alone lapse into cyclic existence with its five types of living beings due to the conditioning of past actions, while maintaining [those stabilities and absorptions]! On the contrary, they dwell in attributes that are like a magical display, and act for the benefit of all beings, but they do not apprehend either beings or their magical display. Since they do not apprehend beings or their magical display, they indeed bring beings to maturation and acquire the buddhafields. So it is, Subhūti, that when bodhisattva great beings practice the perfection of wisdom, [F.212.a] they complete the perfection of meditative stability, and from then, as long as they turn the wheel of the Dharma, they turn the wheel of emptiness, signlessness, and wishlessness, which is without apprehending.
“Moreover, Subhūti, when bodhisattva great beings practice the perfection of wisdom, they comprehend all phenomena in the manner of a dream, and they comprehend all phenomena in the manner of an echo, in the manner of an optical aberration, in the manner of a magical display, in the manner of a mirage, and in the manner of a phantom.”
“Blessed Lord, when bodhisattva great beings practice the perfection of wisdom, how do they definitively comprehend that all phenomena are like a dream. How do they definitively comprehend that all phenomena are like an echo, like an optical aberration, like a magical display, like a mirage, and like a phantom?”
“In this regard, Subhūti,” replied the Blessed One, “when bodhisattva great beings practice the perfection of wisdom, they do not see dreams and they do not see viewers of dreams. They do not hear echoes and they do not see hearers of echoes. They do not see optical aberrations and they do not see viewers of optical aberrations. They do not see magical displays and they do not see viewers of magical displays. {Ki.VII: 39} They do not see mirages and they do not see viewers of mirages. They do not see phantoms and they do not see viewers of phantoms. If you ask why, it is because dreams are the erroneous misconceptions of ordinary simple people. Echoes are their erroneous misconceptions. Optical aberrations are their erroneous misconceptions. Magical displays are their erroneous misconceptions. Mirages are their erroneous misconceptions, and phantoms are their erroneous misconceptions. Arhats do not see dreams and they do not see viewers of dreams. [F.212.b] They do not hear echoes and they do not see hearers of echoes. They do not see optical aberrations and they do not see viewers of optical aberrations. They do not see magical displays and they do not see viewers of magical displays. They do not see mirages and they do not see viewers of mirages. They do not see phantoms and they do not see viewers of phantoms. [Others], up to and including pratyekabuddhas, as well as bodhisattvas and the tathāgatas, arhats, completely awakened buddhas, do not see dreams and they do not see viewers of dreams. They do not hear echoes and they do not see hearers of echoes. They do not see optical aberrations and they do not see viewers of optical aberrations. They do not see magical displays and they do not see viewers of magical displays. They do not see mirages and they do not see viewers of mirages. They do not see phantoms and they do not see viewers of phantoms. If you ask why, all phenomena have the essential nature of nonentity because they are not genuinely true, equivalent to final nirvāṇa. All phenomena are without absolute existence because they are absolutely untrue. In that case, when bodhisattva great beings practice the perfection of wisdom, how could they possibly acquire the notion of an entity, or the notion of absolute existence, or the notion of something that is true? That would be impossible!
“If you ask why, it would not be the perfection of wisdom if one were to apprehend the essential nature, absolute existence, or authenticity of anything. When bodhisattva great beings practice the perfection of wisdom in this manner, they are not attached to physical forms, and they are not attached to feelings, perceptions, formative predispositions, or consciousness. They are not attached to the sense fields, the sensory elements, or the links of dependent origination. [F.213.a] They are not attached to the realm of desire, and they are not attached to the realm of form or the realm of formlessness. They are not attached to the perfection of generosity, and they are not attached to the perfection of ethical discipline, the perfection of tolerance, the perfection of perseverance, the perfection of meditative stability, or the perfection of wisdom. They are not attached to the emptiness of internal phenomena, and they are not attached to [the other aspects of emptiness], up to and including the emptiness of the essential nature of nonentity. They are not attached to the thirty-seven factors conducive to enlightenment. They are not attached to the truths of the noble ones, the meditative concentrations, the immeasurable attitudes, the formless absorptions, the eight aspects of liberation, the nine serial steps of meditative absorption, emptiness, signlessness, wishlessness, or the extrasensory powers. They are not attached to the meditative stabilities or the dhāraṇī gateways. They are not attached to the powers of the tathāgatas, the fearlessnesses, the kinds of exact knowledge, great loving kindness, great compassion, or the distinct qualities of the buddhas. They are not attached to [the goals], up to and including all-aspect omniscience.
“Abiding in this perfection of wisdom, they perfect the first [bodhisattva] level, without any longing for it arising. If you ask why, since they do not even apprehend that level, how could longing for it possibly arise! Abiding in this perfection of wisdom, they perfect the second level, the third level, the fourth level, the fifth level, {Ki.VII: 40} the sixth level, the seventh level, the eighth level, the ninth level, and [F.213.b] the tenth level, without any longing for them arising. If you ask why, since they do not even apprehend those levels, how could longing for them possibly arise! While practicing the perfection of wisdom, they do not even apprehend this perfection of wisdom. When they practice the perfection of wisdom that is without apprehending, they perceive that all phenomena are indeed gathered within this perfection of wisdom, but they do not at all apprehend these phenomena. If you ask why, it is because these phenomena and the perfection of wisdom are nondual and indivisible. If you ask why, it is because these phenomena are not to be at all differentiated. Indeed, all phenomena are indivisible because they denote the realm of phenomena, they denote the real nature, and they denote the very limit of reality.”
“Blessed Lord, since all phenomena are indivisible, how are phenomena revealed to be virtuous or nonvirtuous? How are phenomena revealed to be mundane or supramundane? How are phenomena revealed to be contaminated or uncontaminated? How are phenomena revealed to be conditioned or unconditioned?”
“Subhūti,” replied the Blessed One, “do you think that with regard to the reality of all phenomena there exists the description of anything—conditioned or unconditioned, or similarly, pertaining to the fruit of entering the stream to nirvāṇa, or the fruit of being destined for only one more rebirth, or the fruit of no longer being subject to rebirth, or arhatship, individual enlightenment, or even the bodhisattvas?”
“No, Blessed Lord!”
“For that reason, Subhūti,” continued the Blessed One, [F.214.a] “you should know that all phenomena are indivisible, all phenomena are without defining characteristics, they are nonarising, and they are unoriginated. Subhūti, formerly, when I engaged in the conduct of a bodhisattva, I did not apprehend the inherent existence of anything at all—‘physical forms,’ ‘feelings,’ ‘perceptions,’ ‘formative predispositions,’ ‘consciousness,’ ‘sense fields, sensory elements, and links of dependent origination,’ ‘all the perfections, all the aspects of emptiness, and the thirty-seven factors conducive to enlightenment,’ ‘[all the fruitional attributes], up to and including the distinct qualities of the buddhas,’ ‘virtuous and nonvrtuous attributes,’ ‘afflicted, unafflicted, mundane, supramundane, contaminated, uncontaminated, common, uncommon, conditioned, and unconditioned attributes,’ or ‘the fruit of entering the stream to nirvāṇa,’ ‘the fruit of being destined for only one more rebirth, the fruit of no longer being subject to rebirth, or arhatship,’ or ‘individual enlightenment,’ or ‘[the other goals], up to and including all-aspect omniscience.’ So it is, Subhūti, that when bodhisattva great beings practice the perfection of wisdom, starting from the time when they first begin to set their mind [on enlightenment], until they attain consummate buddhahood in unsurpassed, complete enlightenment, that they should be skillful with regard to the essential nature of all phenomena, without apprehending anything. {Ki.VII: 41} Skillful with regard to the essential nature of all phenomena, bodhisattva great beings perfect the path of enlightenment, and bring beings to maturation and [F.214.b] acquire the buddhafields. Abiding in them, they attain consummate buddhahood in unsurpassed, complete enlightenment, and then in various ways they also instruct beings so that they are disciplined, and no longer appear within the three levels of existence. So it is, Subhūti, that bodhisattva great beings should train in this perfection of wisdom in a manner that is signless.”527
This completes the sixty-first chapter from “The Perfection of Wisdom in Twenty-Five Thousand Lines.” {Ki.VIII: 43}
Colophon
It is said in the original Jangpa manuscript:
This [Tibetan translation of] The Perfection of Wisdom in Twenty-Five Thousand Lines has been edited twice on the basis of the original “gold manuscript,” which had been [commissioned as] a commitment of the spiritual mentor Nyanggom Chobar, and it has also been edited on the basis of the manuscript kept at Yerpa. Since it is extant, scribes of posterity should copy [the text] according to this version alone.
In the [recast] version of The Perfection of Wisdom in Twenty-Five Thousand Lines [Toh 3790] that was edited by master Haribhadra, and in some [other] manuscripts, the text ends with the seventy-first chapter entitled “Unchanging Reality.” In certain [other] manuscripts, including the original (phyi mo) [Toh 9], there are seventy-six chapters, with [F.380.b] the addition of the [seventy-second] chapter entitled “Distinctions in the Training of a Bodhisattva,” the [seventy-third] chapter entitled “The Attainment of the Manifold Gateways of Meditative Stability by the Bodhisattva Sadāprarudita,” the [seventy-fourth] chapter entitled “Sadāprarudita,” the [seventy-fifth] chapter entitled “Dharmodgata,” and the [seventy-sixth] chapter entitled “Entrustment.” This accords with earlier accounts and the authentic records of teachings received. Insofar as there are distinctions in the translation of these five later chapters, I have seen a few manuscripts where the terminology is slightly dissimilar, although there are no differences in meaning.
In general, throughout the present text there are all sorts of unique allusions and variations in the elaboration of the points that are expressed. In particular, in the chapter entitled “The Introductory Narrative,” there are some passages where the text corresponds to The Perfection of Wisdom in One Hundred Thousand Lines.
At the time when the carving of the xylographs of this very text, along with those of the Multitude of the Buddhas (Buddhāvataṃsaka), was completed, in the presence of King Tenpa Tsering, the ruler of Degé, the beggar monk Tashi Wangchuk composed these verses at Sharkha Dzongsar Palace, where the wood-carving workshop was based. May they be victorious!
ye dharmā hetuprabhavā hetun teṣāṃ tathāgato bhavat āha teṣāṃ ca yo nirodho evaṃ vādī mahāśramaṇaḥ [ye svāhā]
“Whatever events arise from causes, the Tathāgata has told of their causes, and the great ascetic has also taught their cessation.”
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1 reference to this passage can be found in the commentary Toh 3808, The Long Explanation of the Noble Perfection of Wisdom in One Hundred Thousand, Twenty-Five Thousand, and Eighteen Thousand Lines.
“Lord, if the perfections are not different why is the perfection of wisdom said to be the highest… when it comes to the five perfections?”