The Perfection of Wisdom in Eighteen Thousand Lines
Chapter 3: Designation
Toh 10
Degé Kangyur, vol. 29 (shes phyin, khri brgyad, ka), folios 1.a–300.a; vol. 30 (shes phyin, khri brgyad, kha), folios 1.a–304.a; vol. 31 (shes phyin, khri brgyad, ga), folios 1.a–206.a
- Jinamitra
- Surendrabodhi
- Yeshé Dé
Imprint
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.
Text Body
The Perfection of Wisdom in Eighteen Thousand Lines
Chapter 3: Designation
Then [F.23.a] venerable Śāriputra inquired of the Lord, “Lord, how then should bodhisattva great beings practice the perfection of wisdom?”
Venerable Śāriputra having thus inquired, the Lord said to him, “Śāriputra, here bodhisattva great beings practicing the perfection of wisdom do not, even while they are bodhisattvas, see a bodhisattva. They do not see even the word bodhisattva. They do not see awakening either, and they do not see the perfection of wisdom. They do not see that ‘they practice,’ and they do not see that ‘they do not practice.’ They also do not see that ‘while practicing they practice and while not practicing do not practice,’ and they also do not see that ‘they do not practice, and do not not practice as well.’47 They do not see form. Similarly, they do not see feeling, perception, volitional factors, or consciousness either. And why? Because, Śāriputra, the name bodhisattva is empty of the intrinsic nature of a name. The name bodhisattva is not empty because of emptiness. A bodhisattva is also empty of the intrinsic nature of a bodhisattva, but a bodhisattva is not empty because of emptiness. Awakening, too, is empty of the intrinsic nature of awakening, but awakening is not empty because of emptiness. The perfection of wisdom, too, is empty of the intrinsic nature of the perfection of wisdom, but the perfection of wisdom is not empty because of emptiness. Form, too, is empty of the intrinsic nature of form, but form is not empty because of emptiness. [F.23.b] And feeling … perception … volitional factors … and consciousness is48 also empty of the intrinsic nature of consciousness, but consciousness is not empty because of emptiness. And why? Because the emptiness of the name bodhisattva is not the name bodhisattva, and there is no name bodhisattva apart from emptiness, because the name bodhisattva itself is emptiness and emptiness is the name bodhisattva as well. The emptiness of the bodhisattva is not the bodhisattva and there is no bodhisattva apart from emptiness, because the bodhisattva is emptiness and emptiness is the bodhisattva as well. The emptiness of the perfection of wisdom is not the perfection of wisdom and there is no perfection of wisdom apart from emptiness, because the perfection of wisdom itself is emptiness and emptiness is the perfection of wisdom as well. The emptiness of form is not form and there is no form apart from emptiness, because form itself is emptiness and emptiness is form as well. And the emptiness of feeling … perception … volitional factors … and consciousness is not consciousness, and there is no consciousness apart from emptiness because consciousness itself is emptiness and emptiness is consciousness as well. And why? Because this—namely, bodhisattva—is just a name; because these—namely, the name bodhisattva, awakening, [F.24.a] the perfection of wisdom, form, feeling, perception, volitional factors, and consciousness—are just names; and because this—namely, emptiness—is just a name. Why? Because where there is no intrinsic nature there is no production, stopping,49 decrease, increase, defilement, or purification. And why? Because form is like an illusion, feeling is like an illusion, perception is like an illusion, volitional factors are like an illusion, and consciousness is like an illusion. And an illusion is just a name that does not reside somewhere, does not reside in a particular place, so the sight of an illusion is mistaken and does not exist and is devoid of an intrinsic nature. Bodhisattva great beings practicing the perfection of wisdom like that do not see production, do not see stopping, do not see standing, do not see decrease, do not see increase, do not see defilement, and do not see purification in any dharma at all. They do not see ‘awakening,’ and they do not see a ‘bodhisattva’ anywhere. And why? Because names are made up. In the case of each of these different dharmas they are imagined,50 unreal, names plucked out of thin air working subsequently as conventional labels, and just as they are subsequently conventionally labeled, so too are they settled down on as real. Bodhisattva [F.24.b] great beings practicing the perfection of wisdom do not see any of those names as inherently existing, and because they do not see them, they do not settle down on them as real.
“Moreover, Śāriputra, bodhisattva great beings practicing the perfection of wisdom think, ‘This bodhisattva is just a name. This awakening is just a name. This awakened one is just a name. This perfection of wisdom is just a name. This practicing the perfection of wisdom is just a name.’ They think, ‘This form is just a name, and these—feeling, perception, volitional factors, and consciousness—are just names.’
“For example, Śāriputra, ‘self’ is said again and again but a self cannot be apprehended; a being, a soul, and a person cannot be apprehended either. Thus they work conventionally as what has been designated by a name,51 yet they cannot be apprehended at all, because of the emptiness of not apprehending. Similarly, bodhisattva great beings practicing the perfection of wisdom also do not see a bodhisattva, they do not see up to consciousness, and they do not see even the names through which they work as conventional labels. So, Śāriputra, setting aside the wisdom of a tathāgata, bodhisattva great beings thus practicing the perfection of wisdom surpass the wisdom of all śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas because of the emptiness of not apprehending. And why? Because they do not see what would make them settle down on them as real. So bodhisattva great beings practicing thus, Śāriputra, [F.25.a] are practicing the perfection of wisdom.
“To illustrate, Śāriputra, if this Jambudvīpa were filled with monks similar in worth to Śāriputra and Maudgalyāyana—like a thicket of naḍa reeds, or a thicket of bamboo, or a thicket of sugarcane, or a thicket of rushes, or a thicket of rice, or a thicket of sesame—their wisdom would not approach the wisdom of a bodhisattva great being practicing the perfection of wisdom even by a hundredth part, or by a thousandth part, or by a hundred thousandth part; it would not stand up to any number, or fraction, or counting, or example, or comparison.52 And why? Because, Śāriputra, that wisdom of a bodhisattva great being has been established with the complete nirvāṇa of all beings as the aim.
“Furthermore, Śāriputra, even the wisdom cultivated53 for a single day by a bodhisattva great being practicing the perfection of wisdom surpasses the wisdom of śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas. Śāriputra, let alone this Jambudvīpa filled with monks similar in worth to Śāriputra and Maudgalyāyana, even if the great billionfold world system were filled with monks similar in worth to Śāriputra and Maudgalyāyana their wisdom would not approach the wisdom cultivated for a single day by a bodhisattva great being practicing the perfection of wisdom even by a hundredth part, up to it would not stand up to any comparison with it. Śāriputra, let alone the great billionfold world system filled with monks similar in worth to Śāriputra and Maudgalyāyana, Śāriputra, even if as many world systems as there are sand particles in the Gaṅgā River [F.25.b] to the east were filled with monks similar in worth to Śāriputra and Maudgalyāyana, and similarly, even if as many world systems as there are sand particles in the Gaṅgā River to the south, west, and north, in the intermediate directions to the northeast, southeast, southwest, and northwest, below and above were filled with monks similar in worth to Śāriputra and Maudgalyāyana, their wisdom would not approach the wisdom cultivated for a single day by a bodhisattva great being practicing the perfection of wisdom even by a hundredth part, up to it would not stand up to any comparison with it.”
Then venerable Śāriputra said to the Lord, “Lord, the wisdom of śrāvaka stream enterers, once-returners, non-returners, worthy ones, pratyekabuddhas, and tathāgatas, worthy ones, perfectly complete buddhas, all those wisdoms are not broken apart, they are a detachment, are not produced, and are empty of an intrinsic nature; and, Lord, you do not find variation or distinction in something that has not been broken apart, that is a detachment, not produced, and empty of an intrinsic nature. So how, Lord, could the wisdom cultivated for a single day by a bodhisattva great being practicing the perfection of wisdom surpass the wisdom of all śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas?”
Venerable Śāriputra having spoken thus, the Lord asked him, “What do you think, Śāriputra, is the wisdom of all śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas concerned with a purpose54 of the sort that concerns the wisdom cultivated for a single day by a bodhisattva great being practicing the perfection of wisdom furnished with the best of all aspects, [F.26.a] practicing the knowledge of all aspects,55 working for the welfare of all beings with the thought, ‘I must, having fully awakened to all dharmas in all forms, lead all beings to complete nirvāṇa’?”56
The Lord then asked, “What do you think, Śāriputra, do all śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas think, ‘We must, having fully awakened to unsurpassed, perfect, complete awakening, lead all beings to complete nirvāṇa in the element of nirvāṇa without any aggregates left behind’?”
The Lord said, “You should understand from just this explanation, Śāriputra, that all the wisdom of śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas does not approach the wisdom cultivated for a single day by a bodhisattva great being practicing the perfection of wisdom even by a hundredth part, up to it does not stand up to any comparison with it, hence it surpasses the wisdom of śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas.
“What do you think, Śāriputra, do all these śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas think, ‘We must, having practiced the six perfections, having brought beings to maturity, having purified a buddhafield, having completed the ten tathāgata powers, having completed the four fearlessnesses, the four detailed and thorough knowledges, and the eighteen distinct attributes of a buddha, and having fully awakened to unsurpassed, perfect, [F.26.b] complete awakening, lead infinite, countless beings beyond measure to complete nirvāṇa’?”
“Śāriputra,” said the Lord, “a bodhisattva great being thinks, ‘I must, having practiced the six perfections, having brought beings to maturity, having purified a buddhafield, having fulfilled the ten tathāgata powers, having fulfilled the four fearlessnesses, the four detailed and thorough knowledges, and the eighteen distinct attributes of a buddha, and having fully awakened to the unsurpassed, perfect, complete awakening, lead infinite, countless beings beyond measure to complete nirvāṇa.’
“To illustrate, Śāriputra, just as a firefly-type creature does not think, ‘I should light up Jambudvīpa with my light, I should pervade Jambudvīpa with my light,’ so too, Śāriputra, no śrāvaka or pratyekabuddha thinks, ‘I must, having practiced the six perfections, having brought beings to maturity, having purified a buddhafield, having completed the ten tathāgata powers, having completed the four fearlessnesses, the four detailed and thorough knowledges, and the eighteen distinct attributes of a buddha, and having fully awakened to the unsurpassed, perfect, complete awakening, lead infinite, countless beings beyond measure to complete nirvāṇa.’
“Again to illustrate, Śāriputra, just as the circle of the sun, when it rises, lights up all Jambudvīpa [F.27.a] with its light and pervades all Jambudvīpa with its light, so too, Śāriputra, a bodhisattva great being, having practiced the six perfections, having brought beings to maturity, having purified a buddhafield, having completed the ten tathāgata powers, having completed the four fearlessnesses, the four detailed and thorough knowledges, and the eighteen distinct attributes of a buddha, and having fully awakened to the unsurpassed, perfect, complete awakening, leads infinite, countless beings beyond measure to complete nirvāṇa.”
The Lord having spoken thus, venerable Śāriputra then asked him, “How, Lord, do bodhisattva great beings, having passed beyond the śrāvaka or pratyekabuddha level, reach the irreversible bodhisattva level and practice57 the bodhisattva path?”
Venerable Śāriputra having asked this, the Lord said to him, “Śāriputra, bodhisattva great beings, from their first production of the thought of awakening onward, stand in the dharmas of emptiness, signlessness, and wishlessness while practicing the six perfections, and, having passed beyond the śrāvaka or pratyekabuddha level, reach the irreversible bodhisattva level.”
The Lord having spoken thus, venerable Śāriputra asked him further, “Standing on which level, Lord, do bodhisattva great beings become worthy of the offerings of all śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas?”
Venerable Śāriputra having asked this, the Lord said to him, [F.27.b] “Śāriputra, in the interval from their first production of the thought up to the site of awakening, bodhisattva great beings practicing the six perfections are constantly and always worthy of the offerings of all śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas. And why? Because, Śāriputra, it is thanks to bodhisattva great beings that all wholesome dharmas appear in the world, that is, that the ten wholesome actions, the morality with five branches, the morality with eight branches, and the four concentrations, four immeasurables, four formless absorptions, four noble truths, four applications of mindfulness, four right efforts, four legs of miraculous power, five faculties, five powers, seven limbs of awakening, and eightfold noble path appear in the world; and that the six perfections, the ten tathāgata powers, the four fearlessnesses, the four detailed and thorough knowledges, up to great love, great compassion, and the eighteen distinct attributes of a buddha appear in the world. And it is because those wholesome dharmas appear in the world that there are58 great sāla tree–like royal families in the world, great sāla tree–like brahmin families in the world, and great sāla tree–like business families in the world; that there are the Cāturmahārājika gods and gods of the Trāyastriṃśa, Yāma, Tuṣita, Nirmāṇarati, Paranirmitavaśavartin, Brahmapurohita, Brahmakāyika, Brahmapārṣadya, Parīttābha, Apramāṇābha, Ābhāsvara, [F.28.a] Parīttaśubha, Apramāṇaśubha, Śubhakṛtsna, Bṛhatphala, Asaṃjñisattva,59 Śuddhāvāsa—Sudṛśa, Sudarśana, Avṛha, Atapa, and Akaniṣṭha—and the Ākāśānantyāyatana, Vijñānānantyāyatana, Ākiṃcityāyatana, and Naivasaṃjñānāsaṃjñāyatana; that stream enterers appear in the world, and that once-returners, non-returners, worthy ones, pratyekabuddhas, bodhisattva great beings, and tathāgatas, worthy ones, perfectly complete buddhas appear in the world.”
“Lord, do bodhisattva great beings purify the offering, or do they not do so?” asked Śāriputra.
“Śāriputra,” replied the Lord, “bodhisattva great beings metaphorically60 purify the offering. And why? Because, Śāriputra, a bodhisattva great being’s offering is absolutely pure. Thus, Śāriputra, a bodhisattva great being is a giver, but a giver of what? A giver of wholesome dharmas. A giver of which wholesome dharmas? A giver of these: the ten wholesome actions, the five-point training, the eight-branched confession and restoration, up to the eighteen distinct attributes of a buddha.”
“Lord, how are bodhisattva great beings who engage with the perfection of wisdom ‘engaged’?”61 asked Śāriputra.
“Śāriputra,” replied the Lord, “here [F.28.b] bodhisattva great beings engaged with the emptiness of form are ‘engaged.’ Similarly, engaged with the emptiness of feelings, the emptiness of perceptions, the emptiness of volitional factors, and the emptiness of consciousness, they are engaged. Furthermore, Śāriputra, here bodhisattva great beings engaged with the emptiness of the eyes are engaged. Similarly, engaged with the emptiness of the ears, nose, tongue, body, and thinking mind they are engaged. When they are engaged with the emptiness of a form, a sound, a smell, a taste, a feeling, and a dharma they are engaged. When they are engaged with the emptiness of the eye consciousness constituent they are engaged. Similarly, engaged with the emptiness of the ear consciousness constituent, nose consciousness constituent, tongue consciousness constituent, body consciousness constituent, and thinking-mind consciousness constituent they are engaged. When they are engaged with the emptiness of suffering they are engaged. When they are engaged with the emptiness of origination, cessation, and the path they are engaged. When they are engaged with the emptiness of ignorance they are engaged. When they are engaged with the emptiness of volitional factors, consciousness, name and form, the six sense fields, contact, feeling, craving, appropriation, existence, birth, and old age and death, they are engaged. When they are engaged with the emptiness of all dharmas they are engaged. When they are engaged with the emptiness of all compounded and uncompounded phenomena they are engaged. Furthermore, Śāriputra, bodhisattva great beings practicing the perfection of wisdom who are engaged with the emptiness of a basic nature are engaged. Śāriputra, bodhisattva great beings practicing the perfection of wisdom who are engaged with these seven emptinesses are engaged. [F.29.a]
“Furthermore, Śāriputra, when those bodhisattvas are practicing the perfection of wisdom with these seven emptinesses you cannot say, first of all, that they ‘are engaged’ or ‘are not engaged.’ And why? Because they do not see form as qualified by production or qualified by stopping. They do not see feelings, perceptions, volitional factors, or consciousness as qualified by production or qualified by stopping. They do not see form as qualified by defilement or qualified by purification. They do not see feelings, perceptions, volitional factors, or consciousness as qualified by defilement or qualified by purification. Furthermore, Śāriputra, bodhisattva great beings do not see ‘a confluence of form with feeling,’ or similarly, ‘a confluence of feeling with perception, perception with volitional factors, or volitional factors with consciousness.’ They do not see ‘a confluence of consciousness with volitional factors.’ And why? Because no dharma is in a confluence with any other dharma, because they are empty of a basic nature. And why? Because that emptiness of form is not form, and because that emptiness of feeling … perception … volitional factors … and consciousness is not consciousness. And why? Because, Śāriputra, that emptiness of form is not seeable,62 the emptiness of feeling does not experience, the emptiness of perception does not perceive, the emptiness of volitional factors [F.29.b] does not occasion anything, and the emptiness of consciousness does not make conscious. And why? Because, Śāriputra, form is not one thing and emptiness another; emptiness is not one thing and form another. Form is itself emptiness, and emptiness is form. Similarly, feeling is not one thing and emptiness another; emptiness is not one thing and feeling another. Perception is not one thing and emptiness another; emptiness is not one thing and perception another. Volitional factors are not one thing and emptiness another; emptiness is not one thing and volitional factors another. And consciousness is not one thing and emptiness another; emptiness is not one thing and consciousness another. Consciousness is itself emptiness, and emptiness is consciousness. And why? Because, Śāriputra, that emptiness is not produced and does not stop, is not defiled and is not purified, does not decrease and does not increase, and is not past, is not future, and is not present.
“In such as that there is no form, there is no feeling, there is no perception, there are no volitional factors, and there is no consciousness. There is no earth element, water element, fire element, or wind element. There is no space element. There is no consciousness element.
“There is no eye sense field; there is no form sense field. There is no ear sense field; there is no sound sense field. There is no nose sense field; there is no smell sense field. There is no tongue sense field; there is no taste sense field. There is no body sense field; there is no touch sense field. There is no thinking-mind sense field; there is no dharma sense field.
“There is no eye constituent, there is no form constituent, there is no eye consciousness constituent. There is no ear constituent, there is no sound constituent, [F.30.a] there is no ear consciousness constituent. There is no nose constituent, there is no smell constituent, there is no nose consciousness constituent. There is no tongue constituent, there is no taste constituent, there is no tongue consciousness constituent. There is no body constituent, there is no touch constituent, there is no body consciousness constituent. There is no thinking-mind constituent, there is no dharma constituent, there is no thinking-mind consciousness constituent.
“There is no ignorance; there is no cessation of ignorance. There are no volitional factors; there is no cessation of volitional factors. There is no consciousness; there is no cessation of consciousness. There is no name and form; there is no cessation of name and form. There are no six sense fields; there is no cessation of the six sense fields. There is no contact; there is no cessation of contact. There is no feeling; there is no cessation of feeling. There is no craving; there is no cessation of craving. There is no appropriation; there is no cessation of appropriation. There is no existence; there is no cessation of existence. There is no birth; there is no cessation of birth. There is no old age and death; there is no cessation of old age and death.
“There is no suffering. There is no origination. There is no cessation. There is no path. There is no attainment. There is no clear realization. There is no stream enterer; there is no result of stream enterer. There is no once-returner; there is no result of once-returner. There is no non-returner; there is no result of non-returner. There is no worthy one; there is no result of worthy one. There is no pratyekabuddha; there is no pratyekabuddha’s awakening. There is no buddha; there is no awakening. [B3]
“Śāriputra, bodhisattva great beings practicing the perfection of wisdom like that are ‘engaged,’ but they do not see the practice of the perfection of wisdom as either ‘engaged’ or ‘not engaged’ with form. [F.30.b] They do not see it as either engaged or not engaged with feeling, perception, volitional factors, or consciousness. They do not see it as either engaged or not engaged with the eyes. They do not see it as either engaged or not engaged with the ears, nose, tongue, body, or thinking mind. They do not see it as either engaged or not engaged with form. They do not see it as either engaged or not engaged with sound, smell, taste, feeling, or dharmas.
“They do not see it as either engaged or not engaged with the eye constituent. They do not see it as either engaged or not engaged with the form constituent. They do not see it as either engaged or not engaged with the eye consciousness constituent … up to … They do not see it as either engaged or not engaged with the thinking-mind constituent, the dharma constituent, or the thinking-mind consciousness constituent.
“They do not see it as either engaged or not engaged with the applications of mindfulness. Similarly, they do not see it as either engaged or not engaged with the right efforts, the legs of miraculous power, the faculties, the powers, the limbs of awakening, or the path. They do not see it as either engaged or not engaged with the four truths. They do not see it as either engaged or not engaged with the ten tathāgata powers, the four detailed and thorough knowledges, the four fearlessnesses, the five clairvoyances, or the eighteen distinct attributes of a buddha, up to they do not see it as either engaged or not engaged with the knowledge of a knower of all aspects furnished with the best of all aspects.
“Śāriputra, in this way you should know bodhisattva great beings who have engaged in the perfection of wisdom like that [F.31.a] have ‘engaged.’
“Furthermore, Śāriputra, bodhisattva great beings practicing the perfection of wisdom neither cause emptiness to engage with emptiness, nor disengage from it, and the same holds true for the yogic practice of emptiness as well.63 They neither cause signlessness to engage with nor disengage from signlessness, and the same holds true for the yogic practice of signlessness as well. They neither cause wishlessness to engage with nor disengage from wishlessness, and the same holds true for the yogic practice of wishlessness as well. And why? Because emptiness is neither a yogic practice nor not a yogic practice. Similarly, signlessness and wishlessness are neither yogic practices nor not yogic practices.
“Śāriputra, bodhisattva great beings engaged like that are ‘engaged’ in the