The Perfection of Wisdom in Eighteen Thousand Lines
Chapter 8: The Religious Mendicant Śreṇika
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 8: The Religious Mendicant Śreṇika
Then venerable Subhūti said to the Lord, “Lord, given that I do not find, do not apprehend, and do not see a bodhisattva or the perfection of wisdom, to which bodhisattva will I give advice and instruction in what perfection of wisdom? Lord, given that I do not find, do not apprehend, and do not see any real basis, this really is something I might be uneasy about—Lord, while not finding, not apprehending, and not seeing any real basis, which dharma will advise and instruct which dharma? Because, Lord, given that I do not find, do not apprehend, and do not see all dharmas, this really is something I might be uneasy about, how I might make just the name bodhisattva and just the name perfection of wisdom wax and wane.
“Lord, furthermore, that name does not stand alone and does not meet up with anything.154 And why? It is because that name does not exist that it does not stand alone and does not meet up with anything. Lord, given that I do not apprehend and do not see the waxing and waning of form, and, Lord, given that I do not apprehend and do not see the waxing and waning of feeling, perception, volitional factors, or consciousness either, what will I label [F.75.a] with the name bodhisattva?155 By the same token, Lord, that name does not stand alone and does not meet up with anything. And why? That name does not exist, therefore it does not stand alone and does not meet up with anything.
“Lord, given that I do not apprehend and do not see the waxing and waning of the eyes, and, Lord, given that I do not apprehend and do not see the waxing and waning of the ears, nose, tongue, body, or thinking mind, and similarly, given that I do not apprehend and do not see the waxing and waning of the constituents, sense fields, or dependent origination, how will I label anything with156 the name bodhisattva?
“The name form, and the names feeling, perception, volitional factors, and consciousness, as well as ears, nose, tongue, body, and thinking mind, do not stand alone and do not meet up with anything. And why? Those names do not exist, therefore they do not stand alone and do not meet up with anything.
“Lord, I do not apprehend and do not see the waxing and waning of eye consciousness. Lord, I do not apprehend and do not see the waxing and waning of ear consciousness, nose consciousness, tongue consciousness, body consciousness, or thinking-mind consciousness, so how will I, while not apprehending and not seeing eye consciousness, or ear, nose, tongue, body, or thinking-mind consciousness, label anything with the name bodhisattva? Lord, also those names do not stand alone and do not meet up with anything. And why? Those names do not exist, therefore they do not stand alone and do not meet up with anything.
“Lord, I [F.75.b] do not apprehend and do not see the waxing and waning of eye contact, of ear, nose, tongue, body, and thinking-mind contact, or of feeling that arises from the condition of eye contact. Lord, I do not apprehend and do not see the waxing and waning of feeling that arises from the condition of ear, nose, tongue, and body, or thinking-mind contact. Lord, I do not apprehend and do not see the waxing and waning of the earth element, and I do not apprehend and do not see the waxing and waning of the water element, fire element, wind element, space element, or consciousness element. Lord, I do not apprehend and do not see the waxing and waning of ignorance, and, Lord, I do not apprehend and do not see the waxing and waning of volitional factors, consciousness, name and form, the six sense fields, contact, feeling, craving, appropriation, existence, birth, or old age and death. Lord, I do not apprehend and do not see the waxing and waning of greed, hatred, or confusion. Lord, I do not apprehend and do not see the waxing and waning of obsessions, obscurations, proclivities, or fetters. Lord, I do not apprehend and do not see the waxing and waning of the sixty-two views. Lord, I do not apprehend and do not see the waxing and waning of self, and, Lord, I do not apprehend and do not see the waxing and waning of a living being, a creature, one who lives, an individual, a person, one born of Manu, a child of Manu, one who does, [F.76.a] one who feels, one who knows, or one who sees. Lord, I do not apprehend and do not see the waxing and waning of the perfection of giving, and, Lord, I do not apprehend and do not see the waxing and waning of the perfection of morality, patience, perseverance, concentration, or wisdom. Lord, I do not apprehend and do not see the waxing and waning of any of the emptinesses. Lord, I do not apprehend and do not see the waxing and waning of the applications of mindfulness, Lord, and similarly I do not apprehend and do not see the waxing and waning of the four right efforts, legs of miraculous power, faculties, powers, limbs of awakening, or path. Lord, I do not apprehend and do not see the waxing and waning of the gateways to liberation—emptiness, signlessness, and wishlessness. Lord, I do not apprehend and do not see the waxing and waning of the four concentrations, four immeasurables, or four formless absorptions. Lord, I do not apprehend and do not see the waxing and waning of mindfulness of the Buddha, mindfulness of the Dharma, mindfulness of the Saṅgha, mindfulness of morality, mindfulness of giving away, mindfulness of the gods, mindfulness of what is included in the body, mindfulness of disgust, mindfulness of breathing in and out, or mindfulness of death.
“And, Lord, given that I do not apprehend and do not see the waxing and waning of the five eyes, six clairvoyances, ten powers, four fearlessnesses, four detailed and thorough knowledges, [F.76.b] or eighteen distinct attributes of a buddha, what will I label with the name bodhisattva? That name, furthermore, does not stand alone and does not meet up with anything. And why? That name does not exist, therefore it does not stand alone and does not meet up with anything.
“Lord, I do not apprehend and do not see the waxing and waning of the five appropriating aggregates, which are like a dream, and, Lord, I do not apprehend and do not see the waxing and waning of the five appropriating aggregates, which are like an illusion, a mirage, a city of the gandharvas, an echo, an apparition, a reflection in the mirror, and a magical creation. Lord, I do not apprehend and do not see the waxing and waning of isolation, calm, nonproduction, nonstopping, nonappearing, not occasioning anything, nondefilement, or nonpurification. Lord, I do not apprehend and do not see the waxing and waning of suchness, unmistaken suchness, unaltered suchness, the true nature of dharmas, the dharma-constituent, the establishment of dharmas, the certification of dharmas, the very limit of reality, or the inconceivable element.157
“Similarly, Lord, I do not apprehend and do not see the waxing and waning of the dharmas that are wholesome and unwholesome, basic immorality and not basic immorality, with outflows and without outflows, with afflictions and without afflictions, ordinary and extraordinary, compounded and uncompounded, defiled and purified, [F.77.a] or saṃsāra and nirvāṇa. Lord, I do not apprehend and do not see the waxing and waning of dharmas that are past, future, or present. Lord, I do not apprehend and do not see the waxing and waning of the Lord. Lord, I do not apprehend and do not see the waxing and waning of tathāgatas, worthy ones, unsurpassed, perfect, complete buddhas seated together with their śrāvaka saṅghas and bodhisattva communities in as many world systems in the eastern direction as there are sand particles in the Gaṅgā River. Lord, given that I do not apprehend and do not see the waxing and waning of tathāgatas, worthy ones, unsurpassed, perfect, complete buddhas seated together with their śrāvaka saṅghas and bodhisattva communities in as many world systems as there are sand particles in the Gaṅgā River in each of the southern, western, northern, northeastern, southeastern, southwestern, or northwestern directions, below or above, which bodhisattva will I advise and instruct in what perfection of wisdom? Lord, that name, furthermore, does not stand alone and does not meet up with anything. And why? That name does not exist, therefore it does not stand alone and does not meet up with anything.
“Thus, Lord, I do not apprehend and do not see the waxing and waning of the suchness of all phenomena. Given that I do not apprehend and do not see even the waxing and waning of the name of the suchness of all phenomena, which bodhisattva will I advise and instruct in what perfection of wisdom? Lord, that name suchness, furthermore, does not stand alone [F.77.b] and does not meet up with anything. And why? That name does not exist, therefore it does not stand alone and does not meet up with anything.
“Lord, whatever this designation bodhisattva that is a conventional term for the true nature of dharmas is, it cannot be said to be aggregates, or constituents, or sense fields, up to the distinct attributes of a buddha—or anything at all, insofar as it is just a dharma designation. Lord, it is just as the name dream cannot be said to be anything at all, and the names illusion, echo, apparition, mirage, a reflection of the moon in water, and magical creation cannot be said to be anything at all. That which is the name space cannot be said to be anything at all, and similarly the names earth, water, fire, and wind cannot be said to be anything at all. That which is the name suchness cannot be said to be anything at all, and the names unmistaken suchness, unaltered suchness, true nature of dharmas, dharma-constituent, establishment of dharmas, certification of dharmas, and very limit of reality cannot be said to be anything at all; the names perfection of giving, morality, patience, perseverance, concentration, and perfection of wisdom cannot be said to be anything at all; and the names morality, meditative stabilization, wisdom, liberation, and knowledge and seeing of liberation cannot be said to be anything at all. That which is the name stream enterer cannot be said to be anything at all, and the name stream enterer dharmas and the names once-returner, non-returner, [F.78.a] worthy one, pratyekabuddha, bodhisattva, and bodhisattva dharmas cannot be said to be anything at all. That which is the name buddha and the name buddha dharmas cannot be said to be anything at all—to be wholesome or unwholesome or neutral, to be basic immorality or not basic immorality, to be permanent or impermanent, or to be happiness or suffering, self or no self, calm or not calm, isolated or not isolated, or a real thing or not a real thing. Having seen the reason for this, Lord, I said, ‘Given that I do not apprehend and do not see the waxing and waning of all dharmas, this really is something I might be uneasy about, namely, were I to label with the name bodhisattva or perfection of wisdom.’ Lord, that name, furthermore, does not stand alone and does not meet up with anything. And why? That name does not exist, therefore it does not stand alone and does not meet up with anything.
“Lord, if the minds of bodhisattva great beings are not cowed, do not tense up, and do not experience regret, and if they do not tremble, feel frightened, or become terrified when the perfection of wisdom is being spoken about, you should know that those bodhisattva great beings stand on the irreversible level by way of not taking their stand on it and will go forth to the knowledge of all aspects.158
“Furthermore, Lord, bodhisattva great beings practicing the perfection of wisdom should not stand in form; they should not stand in feeling, perception, volitional factors, [F.78.b] or consciousness; they should not stand in the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, or thinking mind; and they should not stand in a form, a sound, a smell, a taste, a feeling, or a dharma. They should not stand in the eye consciousness, and they should not stand in the ear consciousness, nose consciousness, tongue consciousness, body consciousness, or thinking-mind consciousness. They should not stand in eye contact; they should not stand in feeling that arises from the condition of eye contact; they should not stand in ear, nose, tongue, body, or thinking-mind contact; and they should not stand in feeling that arises from the condition of ear, nose, tongue, body, or thinking-mind contact. They should not stand in the earth element, and they should not stand in the water element, fire element, wind element, space element, or consciousness element. They should not stand in ignorance, and they should not stand in volitional factors, consciousness, name and form, the six sense fields, contact, feeling, craving, appropriation, existence, birth, or old age and death.
“And why? Lord, it is because form is empty of form, and because feeling … perception … volitional factors … and consciousness is empty of consciousness. Lord, that emptiness of form is not form, and emptiness is not other than form. Form itself is emptiness, and emptiness itself is form. Lord, that emptiness of feeling is not feeling, and emptiness is not other than feeling. Feeling itself is emptiness, and emptiness itself is feeling. Lord, that emptiness of perception is not perception, and emptiness is not other [F.79.a] than perception. Perception itself is emptiness, and emptiness itself is perception. Lord, that emptiness of volitional factors is not volitional factors, and emptiness is not other than volitional factors. Volitional factors themselves are emptiness, and emptiness itself is volitional factors. Lord, that emptiness of consciousness is not consciousness, and emptiness is not other than consciousness. Consciousness itself is emptiness, and emptiness itself is consciousness.
“Because of this one of many explanations, bodhisattva great beings practicing the perfection of wisdom should not stand in form, and they should not stand in feeling, perception, volitional factors, or consciousness. Connect this in the same way with the constituents and sense fields.
“The earth element is empty of the earth element. The emptiness of the earth element is not the earth element, and emptiness is not other than the earth element. The earth element itself is emptiness, and emptiness itself is the earth element. The water element … the fire element … the wind element … the space element … and the consciousness element is empty of the consciousness element. The emptiness of the consciousness element is not the consciousness element, and emptiness is not other than the consciousness element. The consciousness element itself is emptiness, and emptiness itself is the consciousness element.
“Ignorance is empty of ignorance. The emptiness of ignorance is not ignorance, and emptiness is not other than ignorance. Ignorance itself is emptiness, and emptiness itself is ignorance. Volitional factors … consciousness … [F.79.b] name and form … the six sense fields … contact … feeling … craving … appropriation … existence … birth … and old age and death is empty of old age and death. The emptiness of old age and death is not old age and death, and emptiness is not other than old age and death. Old age and death themselves are emptiness, and emptiness itself is old age and death. Because of this one of many explanations, bodhisattva great beings practicing the perfection of wisdom should not stand in ignorance, up to old age and death.
“Furthermore, Lord, bodhisattva great beings practicing the perfection of wisdom should not stand in the applications of mindfulness. And why? Because the applications of mindfulness are empty of the applications of mindfulness. That emptiness of the applications of mindfulness is not the applications of mindfulness, and emptiness is not other than the applications of mindfulness. The applications of mindfulness themselves are emptiness, and emptiness itself is the applications of mindfulness. Because of this one of many explanations, Lord, bodhisattva great beings practicing the perfection of wisdom should not stand in the applications of mindfulness.
“Similarly, they should not stand in the right efforts … legs of miraculous power … faculties … powers … limbs of awakening … path … noble truths … concentrations … immeasurables … formless absorptions … eight deliverances … nine serial absorptions … emptiness, signlessness, and wishlessness … clairvoyances … ten powers … fearlessnesses … detailed and thorough knowledges … great love … great [F.80.a] compassion … or the distinct attributes of a buddha.
“And why? Because the distinct attributes of a buddha are empty of the distinct attributes of a buddha. That emptiness of the distinct attributes of a buddha is not the distinct attributes of a buddha, and emptiness is not other than the distinct attributes of a buddha. The distinct attributes of a buddha themselves are emptiness, and emptiness itself is the distinct attributes of a buddha. Because of this one of many explanations, Lord, bodhisattva great beings practicing the perfection of wisdom should not stand in the distinct attributes of a buddha.
“Furthermore, Lord, bodhisattva great beings practicing the perfection of wisdom should not stand in the perfection of giving. And why? Because the perfection of giving is empty of the perfection of giving. Lord, that emptiness of the perfection of giving is not the perfection of giving, and emptiness is not other than the perfection of giving. The perfection of giving itself is emptiness, and emptiness itself is the perfection of giving. Similarly, bodhisattva great beings practicing the perfection of wisdom should not stand in the perfection of morality … the perfection of patience … the perfection of perseverance … the perfection of concentration … or the perfection of wisdom. And why? Because the perfection of wisdom is empty of the