Upholding the Roots of Virtue
The Action of Absorption
Toh 101
Degé Kangyur vol. 48 (mdo sde, nga), folios 1.a–227.b
- Leki Dé
- Prajñāvarman
- Jñānagarbha
- Yeshé Dé
Imprint
Translated by the Dharmachakra Translation Committee
under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha
First published 2020
Current version v 1.2.27 (2024)
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Table of Contents
Summary
This sūtra, one of the longest scriptures in the General Sūtra section of the Kangyur, outlines the path of the Great Vehicle as it is journeyed by bodhisattvas in pursuit of awakening. The teaching, which is delivered by the Buddha Śākyamuni to a host of bodhisattvas from faraway worlds as well as a selection of his closest hearer students, such as Śāradvatīputra and Ānanda, elucidates in particular the practice of engendering and strengthening the mind of awakening, as well as the practice of bodhisattva conduct for the sake of all other beings.
Acknowledgements
Translated by the Dharmachakra Translation Committee under the guidance of Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche. Thomas Doctor and James Gentry produced the translation and Andreas Doctor compared the draft translation with the Tibetan and edited the text.
This translation has been completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.
The generosity of the sponsors who made work on this text possible is gratefully acknowledged. Their dedication is as follows: For Huang Yi-Hsong, Huang Tsai Shun-Ching, and all sentient beings.
Text Body
Upholding the Roots of Virtue
The Action of Absorption
“Dṛḍhamati, if you have four qualities, they will enable you to accomplish that absorption and teach it to others. What are those four qualities? Apply diligence to attain that absorption and do not discard your efforts. When seated, enthusiastically preaching day and night, manifest the thus-gone ones seated at the supreme seat of awakening, or turning the wheel of Dharma, and likewise have no stinginess with Dharma. While giving the gift of Dharma, transform yourself and the audience members for the Dharma into the bodies of thus-one ones; for while one’s own body will be destroyed, those bodies do not abide anywhere at all, and teach the Dharma while not abiding anywhere. One should sit on the cushion observing that, with that kind of experience, and effecting that kind of transformation, and while seated in this manner, one should give the gift of Dharma.
“One will thus attain that absorption, Dṛḍhamati. Some will attain it while giving the gift of Dharma. For some it will be afterward. For some it will be while composing.
“Dṛḍhamati, one should connect with that absorption by having four other qualities. What are these four qualities? That such bodhisattvas have gone forth from their household. That they sleep in peripheral areas, delighting in forests and wildernesses. That they give oral advice and instructions in accordance with the audience, in view of those who engage in the conduct of beings. Such bodhisattvas also know perfectly well the conduct that accords with their inclinations.
“Dṛḍhamati, those who have four other qualities should be known as spiritual friends. What are those four qualities? They are in possession of expressions that defeat others. They connect beings with the profound Dharma. [F.222.b] They are in possession of timely expressions of oral advice. And they let go of those instructions when the time is right. Those who possess those four other qualities should be known as spiritual friends.”
In that regard, the Blessed One then said the following:
“Dṛḍhamati, those in possession of four qualities should be known as spiritual friends. What are those four qualities? Dṛḍhamati, spiritual friends cause beings to connect with going forth. They cause them to connect with the intention to ascertain the profound meaning. They cause beings to connect with non-attachment toward any focal point in concentration. They also cause beings to connect with the perception of the absence of characteristics. These are the four.”
The Blessed One then said the following about this:
“Dṛḍhamati, there are four qualities which, if bodhisattvas possess them, enable them to cultivate that absorption. What are those four qualities? Having discarded their own intellect, bodhisattvas should be moved according to the intellect of the master. They should apply diligence uninterruptedly. They should not discard diligence and should delight in forests and wildernesses. They should fully abandon all social interactions. Dṛḍhamati, bodhisattvas who have these four qualities will be able to attain that absorption.
“Dṛḍhamati, there are four other qualities which, if bodhisattvas possess them, enable them to attain that absorption. What are those four qualities? In perceiving thus-gone ones that they uphold well, they do not abandon the thus-gone ones even while so much as dreaming of them. In perceiving Dharma teachings that they uphold well, they do not discard the perception of the Dharma teachings even while so much as dreaming of them, and neither are they apathetic about Dharma teachings. [F.223.a] Through the perishability of all things, they also acquire acceptance of the profound Dharma. Through practicing disengagement, they are also those who practice the concentration of non-abiding. Dṛḍhamati, bodhisattvas who have those four qualities will be able to attain that absorption.”
About this, the Blessed One then said:
“Dṛḍhamati, those who possess four qualities should be known as spiritual friends. What are those four qualities? They connect beings with virtue. They turn them away from wickedness. They bring them to the Dharma. And they give teachings appropriate to them. Those are the four.”
The Blessed One then said:
“Dṛḍhamati, bodhisattvas should rely upon spiritual friends with four qualities. What are those four qualities? They fully know the oral instructions. [F.223.b] They fully know their cultivation. They fully know the faults with oral instructions. And they fully know the faults with their cultivation. Those are the four.”
About this, the Blessed One then said:
“Dṛḍhamati, those with four qualities should be known as spiritual friends. What are those four qualities? They fully know place. They fully know location.90 They fully know persons. And they fully know conduct.
“How is it that they fully know place? They fully and precisely know place in accordance with persons. How is it that they fully know persons? They fully and precisely know what persons will become based on their conduct. How is it that they fully know conduct? They decisively demonstrate engagement in Dharma teachings in accordance with desirous, hateful, and delusional conduct. Thereby, in order to abandon desire, they enthusiastically embrace the three Dharma robes and go forth, do not associate with householders, abandon argumentation, accept the profound, and experience emptiness. Dṛḍhamati, those with those four qualities should be known as spiritual friends who will attain that absorption.
“Dṛḍhamati, there are four qualities that, if householder bodhisattvas possess them, enable them to attain that absorption and strive in that absorption. What are those four qualities? Dṛḍhamati, householder bodhisattvas should observe the five precepts. They should also stay in a monastic rest house, taking only one meal a day. They should become highly learned. They should become adept at ascertaining the meaning and rely upon spiritual friends who instruct while abiding in that absorption. Dṛḍhamati, if householder bodhisattvas have those four qualities, they should apply themselves to attaining that absorption.
“Dṛḍhamati, bodhisattvas should apply themselves to it by having four other qualities. What are those four qualities? [F.224.a] In order to bring about the attainment of that meditative concentration through not dwelling on any phenomenon, they should have a pristine practice of discipline, a pristine livelihood, and disregard their life and limb without any remorse. They should form the notion that the one from whom they listen to the Dharma is the teacher. They should manifest the body of the thus-gone ones. They should also be free of stinginess.
“Dṛḍhamati, the following four qualities help those who have perfectly embarked on the Great Vehicle to attain that absorption. With regard to the body, they should not examine the body with any concepts involving a body to be observed. With regard to feelings, they should not examine feelings with any concepts involving feelings to be observed. With regard to the mind, they should not examine the mind with any concepts involving a mind to be observed. With regard to phenomena, they should not examine phenomena with any concepts involving phenomena to be observed. Dṛḍhamati, those four qualities help those who have perfectly embarked on the Great Vehicle to attain that absorption.”
About this, the Blessed One then said:
This concludes the fourteenth chapter.
Colophon
Translated by the Indian preceptor Prajñāvarman and the translator Bandé Leki Dé, then revised and finalized by the Indian preceptors Prajñāvarman and Jñānagarbha, and the chief editor-translator Bandé Yeshé Dé.
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