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Wisdom and teachings of
Mahayana

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S ubhuti, how is it possible to explain this Scripture to others without holding in mind any arbitrary conception of things and phenomena and Dharmas? It can only be done, Subhuti, by keeping the mind in perfect tranquility and in self-less oneness with the 'suchness' that is Tathagatahood. And why? Because all the mind's arbitrary conceptions of matter, phenomena, and of all conditioning factors and all conception and ideas relating thereto are like a dream, a phantasm, a bubble, a shadow, the evanescent dew, the lightning's flash. Every true disciple should thus look upon all phenomena and upon all the activities of the mind, and keep his mind empty and self-less and tranquil.

temple_buddhist

quote 2530 | The Maha Prajna Paramita
Diamond Sutra, 32, in Dwight Goddard, A Buddhist bible

T hen the Lord made this more emphatic by saying:-Subhuti, when disciples begin their practice of seeking to attain Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi, they ought thus to see, to perceive, to know, to understand, and to realize that all things and all Dharmas are no-things, and, therefore, they ought not to conceive within their minds any arbitrary conceptions whatever.

temple_buddhist

quote 2529 | The Maha Prajna Paramita
Diamond Sutra, 31, in Dwight Goddard, A Buddhist bible

T he Lord Buddha continued:-If any disciple were to say that the Tathagata, in his teachings, has constantly referred to himself, other selves, living beings, an Universal Self, what think you Subhuti? Would that disciple have understood the meaning of what I have been teaching?
Subhuti replied: No Blessed Lord. That disciple would not have understood the meaning of the Lord's teachings. For when the Lord has referred to them he has never referred to their actual existence; he has only used the words as figures and symbols. It is only in that sense that they can be used, for conceptions, and ideas, and limited truths, and Dharmas have no more reality than have matter and phenomena.

temple_buddhist

quote 2528 | The Maha Prajna Paramita
Diamond Sutra, 31, in Dwight Goddard, A Buddhist bible

L isten, Subhuti. Within these innumerable Buddha-lands there are every form of sentient beings with all their various mentalities and conceptions, all of which are fully known to the Tathagata, but not one of them is held in the Tathagata's mind as an arbitrary conception of phenomena. They are merely thought of. Not one of this vast accumulation of conceptions from beginningless time, through the present and into the never ending future, not one of them is graspable.

temple_buddhist

quote 2527 | The Maha Prajna Paramita
Diamond Sutra, 18, in Dwight Goddard, A Buddhist bible

S ubhuti, it is just the same when Bodhisattva-Mahasattvas speak of delivering numberless sentient beings. If they have in mind any arbitrary conception of sentient being or of definite numbers, they are unworthy to be called Bodhisattva-Mahasattvas. And why, Subhuti? Because the very reason why they are called Bodhisattva-Mahasattvas is because they have abandoned all such arbitrary conceptions. And what is true of one arbitrary conception is true of all conceptions. The Tathagata's teachings are entirely free from all such arbitrary conceptions as one's own self, other selves, living beings or a universal self.

temple_buddhist

quote 2526 | The Maha Prajna Paramita
Diamond Sutra, 17, in Dwight Goddard, A Buddhist bible

T his is only another way of saying that the phenomena of all things is of one 'suchness' with Buddhahood and Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi, and that it is neither reality nor unreality but abides together with all phenomena in emptiness and silence, inconceivable and inscrutable.

temple_buddhist

quote 2525 | The Maha Prajna Paramita
Diamond Sutra, 17, in Dwight Goddard, A Buddhist bible

W hat does this mean, Subhuti? It means that what I attained is not something limited and arbitrary that can be called, 'Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi,' but is Buddhahood whose essence is identical with the essence of all things and is what it is, universal, inconceivable, inscrutable.

temple_buddhist

quote 2524 | The Maha Prajna Paramita
Diamond Sutra, 17, in Dwight Goddard, A Buddhist bible

T he Blessed One resumed: -Subhuti, should there be among the faithful disciples some who have not yet matured their karma and who must first suffer the natural retribution of sins committed in some previous life by being degraded to a lower domain of existence and should they earnestly and faithfully observe and study this Scripture and because of it be despised and persecuted by the people, their karma will immediately be matured and they will at once attain Anuttarasamyak-sambodhi.

temple_buddhist

quote 2523 | The Maha Prajna Paramita
Diamond Sutra, 16, in Dwight Goddard, A Buddhist bible

B esides, Subhuti, I recall that during my five hundred previous lives, I had used life after life to practice patience and to look upon my life humbly as though it was some saintly being called upon to suffer humility. Even then my mind was free from any such arbitrary conceptions of phenomena as my own self, other selves, living beings, and a universal self.

temple_buddhist

quote 2522 | The Maha Prajna Paramita
Diamond Sutra, 14B, in Dwight Goddard, A Buddhist bible

T he Lord Buddha continued:-For this reason, Subhuti, the minds of all Bodhisattvas should be purified of all such conceptions as relate to seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling, touching and discriminating. They should use the mental faculties spontaneously and naturally, but unconstrained by any preconceptions arising from the senses.

temple_buddhist

quote 2521 | The Maha Prajna Paramita
Diamond Sutra, 10, in Dwight Goddard, A Buddhist bible

W hat do you think, Subhuti? Supposing a disciple who has attained the degree of Crotapanna (entered the stream), could he make any such arbitrary assertion as, 'I have entered the stream'?
Subhuti replied:-No, honored of the worlds. Because, while, by that measure of attainment, it means that he has entered the Holy Stream, yet, speaking truly, he has not entered anything, nor has his mind entertained any such arbitrary conception as form, sound, taste, odor, touch and discrimination. It is because of that degree of attainment that he is entitled to be called a Crotapanna.

What think you, Subhuti? Suppose a disciple has attained the degree of Sakradagamin (one more return), could he make any such arbitrary assertion as, 'I have attained the degree of Sakradagamin'?
No, Honored of the worlds. Because by the degree of Sakradagamin, it is meant that he is to be reborn but once more. Yet speaking truly, there will be no rebirth either in this world or in any oth`er world. It is because he knows this that he is to be called a Sakradagamin.
What think you, Subhuti? Suppose a. disciple has attained the degree of Anagamin (Never to return), could he hold within his mind any such arbitrary conception as, 'I have attained the degree of Anagamin'?
No, Honored of the worlds! Because by the degree of Ariagamin it means that he is never to return, yet, speaking truly,
one who has attained that degree never cherishes any such arbitrary conception and for that reason, he is entitled to be called, an Anagamin.

What think you, Subhuti? Suppose a disciple has attained the degree of Arahat (Fully enlightened), could he entertain within his mind any such arbitrary conception as, 'I have become an Arahat'?
No, Honored of the worlds. Because speaking truly, there is no such thing as a fully enlightened one. Should a disciple who has attained such a degree of enlightenment, cherish within his mind such an arbitrary conception as, 'I have become an Arahat,' he would soon be grasping after such things as his own selfhood, other selves, living beings and a universal self. 0 Blessed Lord! Thou hast said that I have attained the samadhi of 'non-assertion' and, therefore, have reached the climax of human attainment and, because of it, am an Arahat. If I had cherished within my mind the thought, 'I am an Arahat free from all desire'! My Lord could not have declared that Subhuti delights himself in the practice of silence and tranquility. But, speaking truly, I have cherished no such arbitrary thought, so my Lord could truly say, 'Subhuti delights himself in the practice of silence and tranquility.'

temple_buddhist

quote 2520 | The Maha Prajna Paramita
Diamond Sutra, 9, in Dwight Goddard, A Buddhist bible

T he Lord Buddha continued:-Do not think, Subhuti, that the Tathagata would consider within himself:-I will deliver human beings. That would be a degrading thought. Why? Because really there are no sentient beings to be delivered by the Tathagata. Should there be any sentient beings to be delivered by the Tathagata, it would mean that the Tathagata was cherishing within his mind arbitrary conceptions of phenomena such as one's own self, other selves, living beings and an universal self. Even when the Tathagata refers to himself, he is not holding in his mind any such arbitrary thought. Only terrestrial human beings think of selfhood as being a personal possession. Subhuti, even the expression 'terrestrial beings' as used by the Tathagata does not mean that there are any such beings. It is used only as a figure of speech.

temple_buddhist

quote 2519 | The Maha Prajna Paramita
Diamond Sutra, 25, in Dwight Goddard, A Buddhist bible

S ubhuti, if a Bodhisattva-Mahasattva, in practicing charity, conceives within his mind any of these arbitrary conceptions discriminating himself from other selves, he will be like a man walking in darkness and seeing nothing. But if the Bodhisattva-Mahasattva, in his practice of charity, has no arbitrary conceptions of the attainment of the blessing and merits which he will attain by such practice, he will be like a person with good eyes, seeing all things clearly as in the bright sunshine.

temple_buddhist

quote 2518 | The Maha Prajna Paramita
Diamond Sutra, 14 C, in Dwight Goddard, A Buddhist bible

W hen engaged in thinking, he should definitely exclude all thoughts connected with the phenomena of sight, sound, taste, smell, touch, and all discriminations based upon them, keeping his thinking independent of all such arbitrary conceptions of phenomena. The mind is disturbed by these discriminations of sense concepts and the following arbitrary conceptions about them and, as the mind becomes disturbed, it falls into false imaginations as to one's self and its relation to other selves. It is for that reason that the Tathagata has constantly urged the Bodhisattva-Mahasattvas in their practice of charity not to be influenced by any arbitrary conceptions of phenomena such as sights, sounds, etc.

temple_buddhist

quote 2517 | The Maha Prajna Paramita
Diamond Sutra, 14 C, in Dwight Goddard, A Buddhist bible

M oreover, Subhuti, the Bodhisattva-Mahasattvas, in teaching the Dharma to others, should first be free themselves from all the craving thoughts awakened by beautiful sights, pleasant sounds, sweet tastes, fragrance, soft tangibles, and seductive thoughts. In their practice of charity, they should not be influenced by any of these seductive phenomena. And why? Because, if in their practice of charity they are uninfluenced by such things they will realize a blessing and merit that is inestimable and inconceivable.

temple_buddhist

quote 2516 | The Maha Prajna Paramita
Diamond Sutra, 4, in Dwight Goddard, A Buddhist bible

B ecause should there exist in the minds of Bodhisatva-Mahasattvas such arbitrary conceptions of phenomena as the existence of one's own ego-selfness, the ego-selfness of all other, self-ness as divided into an infinite number of living and dying beings, or selfness as unified into one Universal Self existing eternally, they would be unworthy to be called Bodhisattva-Mahasattvas.

temple_buddhist

quote 2515 | The Maha Prajna Paramita
Diamond Sutra, 3, in Dwight Goddard, A Buddhist bible

W hy is there no obtaining of Nirvana? Because Nirvana is the realm of no "thingness". If the ego-soul of personality was an enduring entity it could not obtain Nirvana. It is only because personality is made up of elements that pass away, that personality may attain Nirvana. So long as man is seeking highest perfect Wisdom, he is still abiding in the realm of consciousness. If he is to realize Nirvana, he must pass beyond consciousness. In highest samadhi having transcended consciousness, he has passed beyond discrimination and knowledge, beyond the reach of change or fear; he is already enjoying Nirvana. The perfect understanding of this and the patient acceptance of it is the highest perfect Wisdom that is Prajnaparamita. All the Buddhas of the past, present and future having attained highest samadhi, awake to find themselves realizing Prajna-paramita.

temple_buddhist

quote 2514 | The Maha Prajna Paramita
Hridaya, in Dwight Goddard, A Buddhist bible, p. 86

T hus, 0 Sariputra, all things having the nature of emptiness have no beginning and no ending. They are neither faultless nor not faultless; they are neither perfect nor imperfect. In emptiness there is no form, no sensation, no perception, no discrimination, no consciousness. There is no eye, no ear, no nose, no tongue, no sensitiveness to contact, no mind. There is no sight, no sound, no smell, no taste, no touch, no mental process, no object, no knowledge, no ignorance. There is no destruction of objects, there is no cessation of knowledge, no cessation of ignorance. There is no Noble Four-fold Truths: no pain, no cause of pain, no cessation of pain, no Noble Path leading to the cessation of pain. There is no decay and no death, and no destruction of the notion of decay and death. There is no knowledge of Nirvana, there is no obtaining of Nirvana, there is no not obtaining of Nirvana.

temple_buddhist

quote 2513 | The Maha Prajna Paramita
Hridaya, in Dwight Goddard, A Buddhist bible, p. 86

I f a son or daughter wishes to study the profound Prajna-paramita, how is he to do so?
The Noble Avalokitesvara replied to the Venerable Sariputra, saying: If a son or daughter wishes to study the profound Prajna-paramita, he must first get rid of all ideas of ego-selfness. Let him think thus: Personality? What is personality? Is it an enduring entity? Or is it made up of elements that pass away? Personality is made up of the five grasping aggregates: form, sensation, perception, discrimination, consciousness, all of which are by nature empty of any self-substance.

temple_buddhist

quote 2512 | The Maha Prajna Paramita
Hridaya, in Dwight Goddard, A Buddhist bible, p. 85

G ood and learned friends, when I was at Priest Hung-jen's place, I understood immediately as soon as I heard him, and suddenly realized the original nature of True Thusness. For this reason I propagate this doctrine so that it will prevail among later generations and seekers of the Way will be able to achieve perfect wisdom through sudden enlightenment, each to see his own mind, and to become suddenly enlightened through his own original nature. If they are not able to enlighten themselves, they should seek good and learned friends of high standing to show them the way to see their nature.

temple_buddhist

quote 2314 | Hui Neng
Hui-neng, in the “Plateform scripture” (liu-tsu t’an-ching), in Wing-Tsit Chan, Chinese Philosophy, Chapter 26, 31

W hy not seek in one's own mind the sudden realization of the original nature of True Thusness? The P'u-sa chieh ching says, 'We are originally pure in our self-nature. If we understand our minds and see our nature, we shall achieve Buddhahood ourselves. [And the Wei-mo-chieh (so-shua) ching says] 'Immediately we become completely clear and recover our original mind’.

temple_buddhist

quote 2313 | Hui Neng
Hui-neng, in the “Plateform scripture” (liu-tsu t’an-ching), in Wing-Tsit Chan, Chinese Philosophy, Chapter 26, 30

W hen there is no thought, one's nature is empty of differentiated characters and is tranquil, but when there is thought, that is self-transformation.

temple_buddhist

quote 2312 | Hui Neng
Hui-neng, in the “Plateform scripture” (liu-tsu t’an-ching), in Wing-Tsit Chan, Chinese Philosophy, Chapter 26, 20

W hat is meant by the Perfect Reward-body? One light can illuminate the darkness of a thousand years, and one bit of wisdom can destroy the ignorance of ten thousand years. Never mind looking back to the past; always consider the future, and always make future thoughts good. This is called the Reward-body. The reward of one evil thought will remove the good of a thousand years, and the reward of one good thought will destroy the evil of a thousand years. At all times make the next thought a good one. This is called the Reward-body.

temple_buddhist

quote 2311 | Hui Neng
Hui-neng, in the “Plateform scripture” (liu-tsu t’an-ching), in Wing-Tsit Chan, Chinese Philosophy, Chapter 26, 20

S elf-nature is always pure, just as the sun and moon are always shining. It is only when they are obscured by clouds that there is brightness above but darkness below and the sun, the moon, and the stars cannot be seen. But when suddenly a gentle mind blows and scatters all clouds and fog, all phenomena are abundantly spread out before us, all appearing together. The purity of people’s nature is comparable to the clear sky, their wisdom comparable to the sun, and sagacity comparable to the moon. Their sagacity and wisdom are always shining. It is only because externally people are attached to spheres of objects (1) that erroneous thoughts, like floating clouds, cover the self-nature so that it is not clear. […] By taking refuge ourselves is meant to remove evil deeds. This is called taking refuge.

temple_buddhist

quote 2310 | Hui Neng
Hui-neng, in the “Plateform scripture” (liu-tsu t’an-ching), in Wing-Tsit Chan, Chinese Philosophy, Chapter 26, 20

G ood and learned friends, you must all go through the experience yourselves and receive the discipline that frees you from the attachment to differentiated characters. Follow me at the same time and repeat my slogans. They will enable you, good and learned friends, to see that the Three Bodies (1) of the Buddha are within you: 'We take refuge in the pure Law-body of the Buddha with our own physical bodies. We take refuge in the Myriad Transformation-body with our own physical bodies. We take refuge in the Perfect Reward-body with our own physical bodies.' The physical body is like an inn and cannot be spoken of as a refuge. It has always been the case that the Three Bodies lie in one's own nature. Everyone has them, yet because they are deluded they do not see, and they seek the Three [Bodies] of the Tathagata (Thus-come Buddha) externally, without realizing that the Three Bodies are inherent in one's own physical body. Good and learned friends, listen to your good friend. If you, good and learned friends, now see in your own physical bodies the self-nature that involved the Three Bodies of the Buddha. These Three Bodies will arise from your nature.

temple_buddhist

quote 2309 | Hui Neng
Hui-neng, in the “Plateform scripture” (liu-tsu t’an-ching), in Wing-Tsit Chan, Chinese Philosophy, Chapter 26, 20

The doctrine of "becoming a Buddha in this very body" is a far cry from the original Indian idea that the body is a hindrance to freedom. One cannot help recalling that the Confucianists have always regarded the body as a gift from parents and as such it is a sacred trust and therefore to be well taken care of, and that for centuries the Taoists religion had tried in many ways, including medicine, diets, exercise, sex technique, and breath control, to make the body suitable for everlasting life on earth. These are some of the roots that make Zen essentially Chinese.

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Wisdom and teachings ofMahayana

Wisdom and teachings of
Mahayana