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དམ་པའི་ཆོས་པད་མ་དཀར་པོ།

The White Lotus of the Good Dharma
Skill in Methods

Saddharmapuṇḍarīka

དམ་པའི་ཆོས་པད་མ་དཀར་པོ་ཞེས་བྱ་བ་ཐེག་པ་ཆེན་པོའི་མདོ།

dam pa’i chos pad ma dkar po zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo

The Mahāyāna Sūtra “The White Lotus of the Good Dharma”

Saddharmapuṇḍarīkanāmamahāyānasūtra

Toh 113

Degé Kangyur, vol. 51 (mdo sde, ja), folios 1.b–180.b

ᴛʀᴀɴsʟᴀᴛᴇᴅ ɪɴᴛᴏ ᴛɪʙᴇᴛᴀɴ ʙʏ

Surendrabodhi
Yeshé De

Translated by Peter Alan Roberts
under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha

First published 2018

Current version v 1.2.19 (2024)

Generated by 84000 Reading Room v2.26.1

84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha is a global non-profit initiative to translate all the Buddha’s words into modern languages, and to make them available to everyone.

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Summary

s.1

The White Lotus of the Good Dharma, popularly known as the Lotus Sūtra, is taught by Buddha Śākyamuni on Vulture Peak to an audience that includes bodhisattvas from countless realms, as well as bodhisattvas who emerge from under the ground, from the space below this world. Buddha Prabhūtaratna, who has long since passed into nirvāṇa, appears within a floating stūpa to hear the sūtra, and Śākyamuni enters the stūpa and sits beside him. The Lotus Sūtra is celebrated, particularly in East Asia, for its presentation of crucial elements of the Mahāyāna tradition, such as the doctrine that there is only one yāna, or “vehicle”; the distinction between expedient and definite teachings; and the notion that the Buddha’s life, enlightenment, and parinirvāṇa were simply manifestations of his transcendent buddhahood, while he continues to teach eternally. A recurring theme in the sūtra is its own significance in teaching these points during past and future eons, with many passages in which the Buddha and bodhisattvas such as Samantabhadra describe the great benefits that come from devotion to it, the history of its past devotees, and how it is the Buddha’s ultimate teaching, supreme over all other sūtras.

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Acknowledgements

ac.1

The White Lotus of the Good Dharma Sūtra was translated from Tibetan with reference to the Sanskrit by Peter Alan Roberts. Ling Lung Chen was the consultant for the Chinese versions. Emily Bower was the project manager and editor. Ben Gleason was the proofreader.

The translation was completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.

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The generous sponsorship of May & George Gu, which helped make the work on this translation possible, is most gratefully acknowledged.

Introduction

i.1

The White Lotus of the Good Dharma, popularly known as the Lotus Sūtra, not only contains one of the fullest expressions of the transcendent nature of the Buddha, but also, through its successive descriptions of astonishing events and its vivid parables, is imbued with a distinctive literary power of its own. The sūtra inspired a devoted following in India, but it is above all in east Asia that it has been particularly popular. There it has been the impetus for a range of exquisite artistic and architectural forms, and indeed, whole traditions of study and practice that thrive to this day. An extensive body of literature, too‍—both scholarly and popular‍—is based upon the sūtra.1

The Lotus Sūtra in India

The Sūtra in China and Beyond

The Sūtra in Tibet

Translations into Western Languages

This Translation

Translation of the Title

Translation of Specific Terms

Detailed Summary of “The White Lotus of the Good Dharma”

The Translation

The Mahāyāna Sūtra
The White Lotus of the Good Dharma

Chapter 1

The Introduction

[B1] [F.1.b]

1.1

Homage to the buddhas and the bodhisattvas.

1.2

Thus did I hear at one time.56 The Bhagavān was dwelling on Vulture Peak in Rājagṛha together with a great saṅgha of twelve hundred bhikṣus,57 all of whom were solely arhats whose defilements had ceased; who were without kleśas; who had mastered themselves; who had liberated minds; who had completely liberated wisdom; who were noble beings;58 who were great elephants;59 who had done what had to be done; who had accomplished what had to be accomplished; who had put down their burden; who had reached their goals; who had ended engagement with existence; and who had liberated their minds through true knowledge, had perfectly attained all the powers of the mind, were renowned for their higher knowledge,60 [F.2.a] and were mahāśrāvakas.

Chapter 2

Skill in Methods

2.1

Then the Bhagavān mindfully and knowingly arose from that samādhi. Having arisen from it, he addressed Brother Śāriputra.99

“Śāriputra, the wisdom of the buddhas, which is profound, difficult to see, and difficult to understand, has been realized by the tathāgatas, arhats, perfectly enlightened buddhas. It is difficult for all śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas to know. Why is that? Śāriputra, the tathāgatas, arhats, perfectly enlightened buddhas have served many hundred thousand quintillions of buddhas; they have practiced for the highest, complete enlightenment with many hundred thousand quintillions of buddhas; they have followed them for a long time; they have been diligent; [F.13.a] they have obtained marvelous, amazing Dharma; and they know the Dharma that is difficult to know.

2.2

“Śāriputra, it is difficult to know the true meaning of the teachings given by the tathāgatas, arhats, perfectly enlightened buddhas. Why is that? They teach the Dharma that they have understood themselves though a diversity of skillful methods, visions of wisdom, illustrations of causes and reasons, supports, expressions, and modes of communication. Through these skills in methods, they liberate this and that being, here and there, from attachment. Śāriputra, the tathāgatas, arhats, perfectly enlightened buddhas have reached the perfection of great skill in methods and the highest vision of wisdom.

2.3

“Śāriputra, the tathāgatas, arhats, perfectly enlightened buddhas are endowed with the wonderful dharmas 100 of the strength of101 the unimpeded, unobstructed vision of wisdom, as well as the fearlessnesses, the unique qualities, the powers, the strengths, the aspects of enlightenment, the dhyānas, the liberations, the samādhis, and the samāpattis, and they teach a variety of Dharma teachings.

“Śāriputra, the tathāgatas, arhats, perfectly enlightened buddhas have obtained that which is a great marvel. Śāriputra, it is enough to say just that. Śāriputra, the tathāgatas, arhats, perfectly enlightened buddhas have obtained that which is a supreme marvel.

2.4

“Śāriputra, the tathāgatas should teach the dharmas of the tathāgatas themselves,102 which are the dharmas that tathāgatas know.

“Śāriputra, the tathāgatas teach all dharmas. The tathāgatas know all dharmas.

“They know103 what those dharmas 104 are, the way they are, their characteristics and their nature just as those dharmas are, the way those dharmas are, the characteristics those dharmas have, and the nature of those dharmas.” [F.13.b]

2.5

At that time, the Bhagavān then taught that topic in detail by speaking these verses:

“There have been countless great heroes

In the world with its maruts and humans,

But all those beings were unable to know

Those guides in their entirety. {1}

2.6

“No one is able to know

The nature of their strengths,

Liberations, fearlessnesses,

Or the nature of the buddhas’ other dharmas. {2}

2.7

“In the past their practice

In the presence of millions of buddhas

Was profound and subtle,

Difficult to know and difficult to see. {3}

2.8

“They practiced bodhisattva conduct

For countless millions of eons.

And I have perfectly seen

At the Bodhimaṇḍa its result. {4}

2.9

“Like the guides in other worlds

I have the knowledge of it

In exactly the way that it is

And its exact characteristics. {5}

2.10

“It cannot be taught.

Its description cannot be known,

Except by bodhisattvas

Who maintain aspiration for it; {6}

2.11

“There are no other beings

Present in the worlds

To whom this Dharma is taught

And who know this teaching. {7}

2.12

“The wisdom of the jinas is beyond the scope

Even of the śrāvakas following the knower of the world,

Who have served him well and been praised by the Sugata,

Whose defilements have ceased and who are in their last bodies. {8}

2.13

“If all of those worlds were filled

With beings who were the same as Śāriputra

And they all in unison contemplated it

They would still not understand the wisdom of the sugatas. {9}

2.14

“Even if those who were as wise as you

Were to fill all the ten directions,

And if all ten directions were also filled in that same way

By those who are my other śrāvakas, {10}

2.15

“And if they all today in unison

Were to contemplate the Sugata’s wisdom,

Even all of them together would still not know

The extent of my limitless buddha wisdom. {11} [F.14.a]

2.16

“If pratyekabuddhas who are without defilements,

Have sharp faculties, and are in their last bodies

Were to fill all the ten directions

Like reeds or a stand of bamboo, {12}

2.17

“And if they were in unison to contemplate

Just a fraction of my superior Dharma

For endless quintillions of eons,

They would still not understand its meaning. {13}

2.18

“If the ten directions were to be filled

By bodhisattvas who have newly entered the yāna,

Those who have served many millions of buddhas

And many dharmabhāṇakas of the definitive meaning, {14}

2.19

“If they filled all worlds like stands of bamboo

Uninterruptedly at all times,

And if for countless millions of eons

That are as innumerable as the Ganges sands {15}

2.20

“They were in unison to contemplate,

With subtle wisdom thinking of nothing else,

The Dharma that the Sugata has directly perceived,

It would still be beyond the scope of their understanding. {16}

2.21

“If bodhisattvas who are irreversible‍—

Not a few, but as numerous as the Ganges sands‍—

Were to contemplate this without a thought of anything else,

Even for them this would be beyond the scope of their knowledge. {17}

2.22

“The jinas in the worlds in the ten directions

Who understand the profound and very subtle Dharma,

Who are free of thinking and whose defilements have ceased,

Have for a long time been teaching this highest meaning. {18}

2.23

“Those jinas, those great sages teach nothing else

Than exactly this kind of knowledge that I have.

Śāriputra, you should have complete aspiration

For that which the tathāgatas are teaching. {19}

2.24

“I instruct all of these śrāvakas,

Those who are pratyekabuddhas,

And those I have brought to nirvāṇa,

To liberate them from the continuity of suffering. {20}

2.25

“I teach many dharmas in the world

So that here and there I bring liberation from attachment.

I give the teaching of the three yānas,

Which is my supreme skill in methods.” {21}

2.26

In that assembly two hundred thousand great śrāvakas such as Ājñātakauṇḍinya, who were arhats, whose defilements had ceased [F.14.b] and who had attained power, and also bhikṣus, bhikṣuṇīs, upāsakas, and upāsikās who followed the Śrāvakayāna, and also those who followed the Pratyekabuddhayāna, all thought, “What is the cause and what is the reason why the Bhagavān has praised the skill in methods of the tathāgatas, and said, ‘This profound Dharma is the attainment of buddhahood’ and ‘It is difficult for all śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas to understand it’? The Bhagavān has said there is but one liberation, and we have obtained the Buddha’s Dharma and we have attained nirvāṇa, and yet we do not know the meaning of what the Bhagavān has said.”

2.27

Brother Śāriputra, knowing that the fourfold retinue was uncertain and in doubt, at that time said these words to the Bhagavān: “Bhagavān, what is the cause and what is the reason why the Bhagavān has in this way repeatedly praised the teaching of the Dharma of being wise in skill in methods, and repeatedly said, ‘I have realized this profound Dharma’ and ‘It is difficult to know the intended meaning of the teaching’? I have never before heard this Dharma teaching from the Bhagavān. Also the fourfold retinue is uncertain and in doubt. What is the Tathāgata’s intended meaning? I request that the Bhagavān explain perfectly the profound Dharma of the tathāgatas, of which you have repeatedly spoken.”

2.28

Then at that time Brother Śāriputra recited these verses: [F.15.a]

“ ‘I have obtained countless strengths,

Liberations, and dhyānas’‍—

Sun of humans, for a long time today

You have spoken words of this kind. {22}

2.29

“You are speaking about the Bodhimaṇḍa

Without anyone asking you to.

You are speaking about intended meaning

Without anyone asking you about it. {23}

2.30

“Without anyone asking you to speak of it

You are praising your own conduct.

You speak of your attainment of wisdom

And you declare it to be profound. {24}

2.31

“Those with power, whose defilements have ceased,

And those established in nirvāṇa

Are today in uncertainty,

Wondering what the Jina is saying. {25}

2.32

“Those who are intent on pratyekabuddhahood,

And the bhikṣus and likewise bhikṣuṇīs,

The devas, nāgas, and yakṣas,

And the gandharvas and mahoragas, {26}

2.33

“They are uncertain, analyzing,

Talking among themselves,

And gazing at the supreme human.

Great sage, give us your elucidation. {27}

2.34

“Within the teaching of the highest sage

I am supreme among the entirety

Of all the Tathāgata’s śrāvakas

Who are present here. {28}

2.35

“And yet I am myself still uncertain,

Supreme human, of your point.

How conclusive is my nirvāṇa

Or the practice I have been taught? {29}

2.36

“Emit the sound of the supreme drum

By relating the nature of this Dharma.

The heart children of the Jina are present here,

Gazing at the Jina with hands together in homage. {30}

2.37

“There are devas and nāgas together with yakṣas and rākṣasas

In many billions, as numerous as the Ganges sands.

There are eighty thousand present of those

Who are intent upon supreme enlightenment. {31}

2.38

“There are great monarchs, cakravartin kings

Who have come from billions of realms.

They have respectfully placed their hands together.

How can we make our practice perfect?” {32}

2.39

When Śāriputra had thus spoken, the Bhagavān asked him, “Śāriputra,105 why should I teach this? What would be the reason? Śāriputra, if I were to teach the meaning of this, [F.15.b] it would alarm this world with its devas.”

Then Brother Śāriputra for a second time made his request to the Bhagavān, saying, “Bhagavān, I request that you teach this meaning. I request that the Sugata teach it. Why is that? Bhagavān, in this assembly there are many hundreds of beings, many thousands of beings, many hundred thousands of beings, many hundred thousand quintillions of beings, who have seen past buddhas and are endowed with wisdom, and they will have faith in the teaching of the Bhagavān, will have conviction in it, and will uphold it.”

2.40

Then at that time Brother Śāriputra recited this verse:

“There are thousands of beings in this assembly

Who have faith in, delight in, and venerate the Sugata,

And they will understand the Dharma that you teach.

Therefore, king and lord of humans,106 I request that you clearly teach.” {33}

2.41

Then the Bhagavān said a second time to Brother Śāriputra. “Śāriputra,107 if I were to teach the meaning of this it would alarm this world with its devas, and it would cause bhikṣus who have great pride to fall into a great abyss.”

2.42

Thereupon the Bhagavān spoke this verse:

“I have taught enough of this Dharma.

This wisdom is subtle and cannot be analyzed.

There are many present who are foolish and proud.

They will not understand and will reject my teaching.” {34}

2.43

Then Brother Śāriputra made a third request to the Bhagavān, saying, “I request that the Bhagavān teach. I request that the Sugata teach. Bhagavān, in this assembly there are many hundreds who are like me. Bhagavān, there are many hundreds of such beings, many thousands of such beings, many hundred thousands of such beings, many hundred thousand quintillions of such beings, and there are others who were ripened by the Bhagavān in their previous existences. [F.16.a] They will have faith in, have conviction in, and will uphold the Bhagavān’s teaching, and for a long time it will bring them benefit, welfare, and happiness.”

2.44

Then at that time Brother Śāriputra recited these verses:

“Supreme human, teach the Dharma.

I, your senior son, make this request to you.

Here there are present billions of beings

Who will have faith in the Dharma you teach. {35}

2.45

“These beings, who in their previous lives

You constantly ripened over a very long time,

Are all standing here with hands in homage.

They will have faith in this Dharma. {36}

2.46

“There are twelve hundred here who are like me,

Who are established in the highest enlightenment.

Sugata, regard them and give your teaching

So that they will experience the highest happiness.” {37}

2.47

Then the Bhagavān, knowing Brother Śāriputra had made this request for the third time, said these words to Brother Śāriputra: “Śāriputra, now that you have made this request to the Tathāgata three times, I have said what I had to say about your request. Therefore, Śāriputra, listen carefully and remember, for I will give you the teaching.”

2.48

As soon as the Bhagavān had consented, more than five thousand arrogant bhikṣus, bhikṣuṇīs, upāsakas, and upāsikās within that assembly rose from their seats, bowed down their heads to the Bhagavān’s feet, and departed from the assembly. As a result of their arrogance they believed that they had obtained roots of merit when they had not obtained them, and believed they had realization when they did not have realization. They had become aware of their own error and departed from that assembly, the Bhagavān giving his permission to do so by remaining silent.

2.49

Then the Bhagavān said to Brother Śāriputra, “Śāriputra, my assembly has become free of its dregs. [F.16.b] Śāriputra, it has become free of those who were worthless, while those for whom faith is essential remain. It is good that those who are arrogant have departed. Therefore, Śāriputra, I shall teach that meaning.”

“Excellent, Bhagavān!” Śāriputra replied, and he listened to the Bhagavān.

2.50

“Śāriputra,” said the Bhagavān, “a tathāgata rarely teaches this kind of Dharma. Śāriputra, just as fig tree flowers rarely appear, a tathāgata rarely teaches this kind of Dharma. Śāriputra, believe me, I am speaking the truth. I am speaking correctly. I am not speaking otherwise.

“Śāriputra, the tathāgatas’ teaching that contains an inner meaning is difficult to understand. Why is that? Śāriputra, I teach the Dharma by using various definitions, expressions, and parables,108 using hundreds of thousands of different skillful methods.

2.51

“Śāriputra, that Dharma 109 cannot be analyzed. It is beyond the scope of sophists; it is what is known by a tathāgata. Why is that? Śāriputra, a tathāgata, arhat, perfectly enlightened buddha comes into the world in order to perform one deed, one action: a great deed and a great action.

“Śāriputra, what is a tathāgata’s one deed and one action, his great deed and great action, for which a tathāgata, arhat, perfectly enlightened buddha comes into the world? A tathāgata, arhat, perfectly enlightened buddha comes into this world for the sake of causing beings to acquire the vision of the tathāgatas’ wisdom. A tathāgata, arhat, perfectly enlightened buddha comes into this world [F.17.a] in order to reveal to beings the vision of the tathāgatas’ wisdom. A tathāgata, arhat, perfectly enlightened buddha comes into this world in order that beings will enter the vision of the tathāgatas’ wisdom. A tathāgata, arhat, perfectly enlightened buddha comes into this world in order that beings will realize the vision of the tathāgatas’ wisdom. A tathāgata, arhat, perfectly enlightened buddha comes into this world in order that beings will enter the path to the vision of the tathāgatas’ wisdom.

2.52

“Śāriputra, a tathāgata appears in this world for that one deed and one action, for that one great deed and one great action, and with that one intention.

“Śāriputra, in that way a tathāgata accomplishes that one deed and one action, that one great deed and great action of the tathāgatas.110 Why is that? Śāriputra, I cause the acquisition of the vision of the tathāgatas’ wisdom. I reveal the vision of the tathāgatas’ wisdom. Śāriputra, I cause entry into the vision of the tathāgatas’ wisdom. Śāriputra, I cause the realization of the vision of the tathāgatas’ wisdom. Śāriputra, I cause entry into the path to the vision of the tathāgatas’ wisdom.

2.53

“Śāriputra, I also I teach the Dharma to beings through a single yāna, which is the Buddhayāna, ultimate omniscience. There are no second or third yānas.

“Śāriputra, this is the true nature everywhere in all worlds in the ten directions. Why is that? Śāriputra, the tathāgatas, arhats, perfectly enlightened buddhas [F.17.b] who in the past have appeared in countless, innumerable worlds in the ten directions have known the thoughts that are the various aspirations, natures, and intentions of beings. For the sake of many beings, for the benefit of many beings, for the happiness of many beings, and with compassion for the world, for the sake of a great number of beings, and for the benefit and happiness of devas and humans, they taught the Dharma by using a variety of teachings on accomplishment, and various teachings on causes, reasons, parables,111 supports, and skillful methods.112

2.54

“Śāriputra, all those tathāgatas, arhats, perfectly enlightened buddhas taught the Dharma to beings through a single yāna, which is the Buddhayāna, ultimate omniscience. It is the teaching of the Dharma that causes the acquisition of the vision of the tathāgatas’ wisdom, reveals the vision of the tathāgatas’ wisdom, causes entry into the vision of the tathāgatas’ wisdom, causes the realization of the vision of the tathāgatas’ wisdom, and causes entry into the path to the vision of the tathāgatas’ wisdom.

“Śāriputra, all the beings who heard that Dharma from those tathāgatas, arhats, perfectly enlightened buddhas in the past attained the highest, supreme enlightenment.

2.55

“Śāriputra, the tathāgatas, arhats, perfectly enlightened buddhas who in the future will appear in countless, innumerable worlds in the ten directions will also know the thoughts that are the various aspirations, natures, and intentions of beings. For the sake of many beings, for the benefit of many beings, for the happiness of many beings, and with compassion for the world, for the sake of a great number of beings, and for the benefit and happiness of devas and humans, [F.18.a] they will teach the Dharma by using a variety of teachings on accomplishment, and various teachings on causes, reasons, parables,113 supports, and skillful methods.114

2.56

“Śāriputra, all those tathāgatas, arhats, perfectly enlightened buddhas will teach the Dharma to beings through a single yāna, which is the Buddhayāna, ultimate omniscience. It is the teaching of the Dharma that causes the acquisition of the vision of the tathāgatas’ wisdom, reveals the vision of the tathāgatas’ wisdom, causes entry into the vision of the tathāgatas’ wisdom, causes the realization of the vision of the tathāgatas’ wisdom, and causes entry into the path to the vision of the tathāgatas’ wisdom.

“Śāriputra, all the beings who hear that Dharma from those tathāgatas, arhats, perfectly enlightened buddhas in the future will attain the highest, supreme enlightenment.

2.57

“Śāriputra, the tathāgatas, arhats, perfectly enlightened buddhas who in the present have appeared in countless, innumerable worlds in the ten directions also know the thoughts that are the various aspirations, natures, and intentions of beings. For the sake of many beings, for the benefit of many beings, for the happiness of many beings, and with compassion for the world, for the sake of a great number of beings, and for the benefit and happiness of devas and humans, they teach the Dharma by using a variety of teachings on accomplishment, and various teachings on causes, reasons, parables,115 supports, and skillful methods.116

2.58

“Śāriputra, all those tathāgatas, arhats, perfectly enlightened buddhas teach the Dharma to beings through a single yāna, which is the Buddhayāna, ultimate omniscience. [F.18.b] It is the teaching of the Dharma that causes the acquisition of the vision of the tathāgatas’ wisdom, reveals the vision of the tathāgatas’ wisdom, causes entry into the vision of the tathāgatas’ wisdom, causes the realization of the vision of the tathāgatas’ wisdom, and causes entry into the path to the vision of the tathāgatas’ wisdom.

“Śāriputra, all the beings who hear that Dharma from those tathāgatas, arhats, perfectly enlightened buddhas will attain the highest, supreme enlightenment.

2.59

“Śāriputra, in that same way, I am a tathāgata, arhat, perfectly enlightened buddha who knows the thoughts that are the various aspirations, natures, and intentions of beings. For the sake of many beings, for the benefit of many beings, for the happiness of many beings, and with compassion for the world, for the sake of a great number of beings, and for the benefit and happiness of devas and humans, I teach the Dharma by using a variety of teachings on accomplishment, and various teachings on causes, reasons, parables,117 supports, and skillful methods.118

2.60

“Śāriputra, I also teach the Dharma to beings through a single yāna, which is the Buddhayāna, ultimate omniscience. It is the teaching of the Dharma that causes the acquisition of the vision of the tathāgatas’ wisdom, reveals the vision of the tathāgatas’ wisdom, causes entry into the vision of the tathāgatas’ wisdom, causes the realization of the vision of the tathāgatas’ wisdom, and causes entry into the path to the vision of the tathāgatas’ wisdom.

“Śāriputra, all the beings who now hear that Dharma from me [F.19.a] will also attain the highest, supreme enlightenment.

“Śāriputra, know that in this teaching there is no second yāna anywhere in any world in the ten directions, so how could there be a third?

2.61

“However, when tathāgatas, arhats, perfectly enlightened buddhas appear during the degeneration of an eon, or when there is the degeneration of beings, degeneration through the kleśas, degeneration of view, or degeneration of lifespan, then, Śāriputra, when there is that turmoil119 of the degeneration of the era, many defilements, and beings have craving and few roots of merit,120 then, Śāriputra, the tathāgatas, arhats, perfectly enlightened buddhas with skill in methods teach that single Buddhayāna as a teaching of three yānas.

2.62

“Śāriputra, those śrāvakas, arhats, and pratyekabuddhas who do not listen to, do not engage in, and do not comprehend the activity of the tathāgatas that causes the acquisition of the Buddhayāna, you should know that they, Śāriputra, are not śrāvakas of the Buddha, and you should know that they are not his arhats or pratyekabuddhas.

“Also, Śāriputra, those bhikṣus or bhikṣuṇīs who vow to become arhats do not possess the aspiration to the highest, complete enlightenment. They say, ‘I have cut myself off from the Buddhayāna; this is my last existence, my nirvāṇa.’

2.63

“Śāriputra, know them to be arrogant. Why is that? Śāriputra, it is impossible that a bhikṣu arhat, whose defilements have ceased, who hears this Dharma in the presence of the Tathāgata, will be unable to have faith in it, unless it is after the Tathāgata’s nirvāṇa. Why is that? Śāriputra, at the time, after the Tathāgata’s nirvāṇa, [F.19.b] these śrāvakas will not preserve or teach121 this kind of sūtra.

2.64

“Śāriputra, they will have no doubt concerning this Dharma teaching from other tathāgatas, arhats, perfectly enlightened buddhas. Śāriputra, have faith in me, trust in me, and have confidence122 in me.

“Śāriputra, the tathāgatas do not lie. This one yāna, Śāriputra, is the Buddhayāna.”

2.65

At that time the Buddha taught this topic in detail by reciting these verses:

“The arrogant bhikṣus, bhikṣuṇīs,

Upāsakas, and upāsikās

Who are devoid of faith

Number no fewer than five hundred. {38}

2.66

“Having impaired training,123

They saw this wrong of theirs,

And concealing their flaws,

The foolish ones departed.124 {39}

2.67

“They do not have the good karma

For listening to this Dharma.

Knowing them to be the very dregs of this assembly

I, the Lord of the World, gave them leave. {40}

2.68

“Those now present in my assembly

Are pure and free of the chaff.

All who are extraneous have departed

And these who remain are the essence. {41}

2.69

“Listen to me, Śārisuta! The supreme beings,

The guides,125 the buddhas have taught

The perfect Dharma of the buddhas

With many hundreds of skillful methods. {42}

2.70

“In that way I know the thoughts and the conduct

And the many aspirations of millions of beings,

And I know their various kinds of karma,

And the good actions they have previously accomplished, {43}

2.71

“And I shall make those beings understand

Through various definitions and reasons,

And through hundreds of causes and parables,

And in those ways I will please beings.126 {44}

2.72

“I teach through prose127 and likewise verse,

Histories, my previous lifetimes, accounts of miracles,

Prologues, hundreds of different analogies,

Prose put into verse, and similarly elucidations. {45}

2.73

“I give the teaching of nirvāṇa to those

Who lack wisdom, who are attracted to inferior paths,

Who do not practice the way of the many millions of buddhas, [F.20.a]

Who are clinging to saṃsāra and suffer deeply. {46}

2.74

“A self-arisen one performs this method

So that the wisdom of buddhahood may be realized.

But I have never said to them,

‘You will become buddhas in this world.’ {47}

2.75

“Why is that? The Protector waits for an appropriate time,

And when he sees that time has come he teaches it.

That appropriate time has somehow arrived today

And that is why I shall teach the definitive truth. {48}

2.76

“My teaching has nine aspects,

Which are taught according to the strengths128 of beings.

I teach with this method so that they will approach

The supreme gift that is wisdom. {49}

2.77

“I give the teaching of the extensive sūtras

To those bodhisattvas 129 who are always pure,

Who are wise,130 unsullied, and gentle,

Who have served many millions of buddhas. {50}

2.78

“As their aspirations are fulfilled

And they have purity of conduct,

I say that they will be in a future time

Beneficial and compassionate buddhas. {51}

2.79

“Hearing so, they all are filled with joy,

Thinking, ‘We will become buddhas, supreme among beings.’

And also, knowing their attitude,

I give them the teaching of the extensive sūtras. {52}

2.80

“Those śrāvakas of the Guide who in this way

Have heard this teaching131 of mine,

They who have heard or retained even one verse,

Will all, without doubt, attain enlightenment. {53}

2.81

“Apart from the skillful methods of supreme beings

Who give the teaching of separate yānas,

There is only one yāna; there is no second,

And there is never in the world a third. {54}

2.82

“A lord of the world appears in the world

In order to teach the wisdom of buddhahood.

That is his one activity, there is no second:

The buddhas do not guide beings with a lesser yāna. {55}

2.83

“A self-arisen one establishes beings

In that in which he is himself established:

In that very same buddhahood,

In the strengths, dhyānas, liberations, and powers. {56} [F.20.b]

2.84

“If having attained preeminent, stainless enlightenment

I were then to establish even one being

In a lesser yāna, that would not be good:

I would have the fault of stinginess. {57}

2.85

“I do not have the slightest stinginess;

I have no envy and no desire.

I have eliminated every bad quality.

I am a buddha and I understand beings. {58}

2.86

“Just as the signs I am adorned by

Illuminate all these worlds,

I give the teaching of this seal of the Dharma’s nature

To the many hundreds of beings who are before me. {59}

2.87

“This is what I think of, Śāriputra:

‘How may all beings become

Possessed of a body with the thirty-two signs

And be self-luminous, self-arising knowers of the world?’ {60}

2.88

“Just as I saw and just as I thought,

And just as I resolved in the past,

My aspirations have been fulfilled

And I teach enlightenment and buddhahood.132 {61}

2.89

“If, Śārisuta, I were to say to beings,

‘Develop the desire for buddhahood,’

All who are ignorant would be bewildered133

And they would not follow my good advice. {62}

2.90

“I have the knowledge of their nature;

They have not practiced the way in previous lifetimes.

They have attachment and cling to sensory pleasures.

They are stupefied by craving and bewildered by ignorance. {63}

2.91

“Desire causes them to fall into the lower existences.

They are tormented within the six existences.

They increase the charnel grounds over and over.

They have little merit and are tortured by suffering. {64}

2.92

“They constantly cling to the darkness of wrong views:

That things exist, do not exist, and similarly both exist and do not exist.

They rely upon the sixty-two fabricated views.

They remain fixated upon things that have no reality. {65}

2.93

“They are treacherous, conceited, and incorrigible.

They are crooked, deceitful, fools with little learning.

Throughout billions of their lifetimes

They never hear these words from a buddha. {66} [F.21.a]

2.94

“Śārisuta, I teach to them the method

That will bring an end to their suffering.

On seeing beings tortured by suffering

I then give to them the teaching of nirvāṇa. {67}

2.95

“Thus I give all these Dharma teachings

Of eternal nirvāṇa and primordial peace,

While a bodhisattva 134 who has perfected his practice

Will in a future time become a jina. {68}

2.96

“Similarly, the three yānas that I teach

Are a skillful method of mine.

There is but one yāna, but one way‍—

There is but this one teaching of the guides. {69}

2.97

“Those of you here who have doubt about this

Should dispel your doubt and your uncertainty.

The guides of the world do not teach anything else.

There is but this one yāna; there is no second. {70}

2.98

“The tathāgatas who have appeared in the past,

The many135 thousands of buddhas who have entered nirvāṇa

In the countless eons of the past

Could never be enumerated. {71}

2.99

“All those supreme beings

Gave many pure Dharma teachings

Through parables, causes, and reasons,

And through hundreds of skillful methods. {72}

2.100

“All of them taught one yāna.

They brought countless billions

Of beings into that single yāna

And ripened them in that single yāna. {73}

2.101

“The tathāgatas, in a world with its devas,

Knowing the aspirations and thoughts of beings,

Are teaching this supreme Dharma

With other various methods of the jinas. {74}

2.102

“Those beings who in their presence

Are listening to the Dharma or have listened to it,

Who have practiced generosity, maintained good conduct,

Who have accomplished all practices with patience, {75}

2.103

“Who have served with diligence and meditation,

Who have contemplated with wisdom these Dharma teachings,

And have created various kinds of merit:

They will all of them attain enlightenment. {76}

2.104

“Those beings who have followed the teaching

Of the jinas who have passed into nirvāṇa, [F.21.b]

And who are patient, peaceful, and self-controlled:

They will all of them attain enlightenment. {77}

2.105

“Those who make offerings to the relics

Of the jinas who have passed into nirvāṇa,

And have built countless thousands of stūpas

That are made of jewels, gold, and silver, {78}

2.106

“And of crystals, and of emeralds,

That are made from pearls and chrysoberyls,

Of the best beryls and likewise sapphires:

They will all of them attain enlightenment. {79}

2.107

“Also those who make stūpas out of stone,

Those who make them from sandalwood and agarwood,

Those who make stūpas out of deodar cedar,

Those who make them from a combination of woods, {80}

2.108

“And those who with delight make stūpas of jinas

From bricks or build them from clay,136

And those who for that purpose create them

In remote forests from piles of earth, {81}

2.109

“And those children playing here and there

Who pile up sand

So as to create stūpas of the jinas:

They will all of them attain enlightenment.137 {82}

2.110

“Similarly those who have others work

In order to create the precious images

Of statues that possess the thirty-two signs:

They will all of them attain enlightenment. {83}

2.111

“Those who make them from the seven precious materials,

Those who make them from copper and bronze,

Those who have made statues of the sugatas:

They will all of them attain enlightenment. {84}

2.112

“Those who have representations of the sugatas made

From lead, from iron, or from clay,

Or beautifully painted on cloth:138

They will all of them attain enlightenment. {85}

2.113

“Those who paint their representations in murals,

Their entire bodies with a hundred signs of merit,

Whether they paint them themselves or have others do so:

They will all of them attain enlightenment. {86}

2.114

“Also those, whether adults or children,

Who in learning, or for their own amusement

Or to entertain others, draw those images [F.22.a]

On a wall with a fingernail or with a stick: {87}

2.115

“They will all of them attain enlightenment,

All of them will become compassionate,

All of them will liberate millions of beings,

And they will make many become bodhisattvas. {88}

2.116

“Those who make offerings of flowers and incense

To the relics of the tathāgatas,

To stūpas and images made of clay,

And to murals and stūpas made of earth; {89}

2.117

“Those who cause music to be played for them

With the pleasant sounds of ḍamarus,139 conches, and bherī drums;140

Those who play well upon drums

As an offering to the perfectly enlightened ones;141 {90}

2.118

“Those who do so with melodious lutes, cymbals, and gongs,

Mṛdaṅga drums,142 single-stringed lutes,143 and flutes,

Which bring delight,144 and are pleasant to hear:

They will all of them attain enlightenment. {91}

2.119

“Those who, in order to make offerings to the sugatas,

Make music with strings of little bells,145

With bowls of water,146 by clapping their hands,

And with sweet, lovely well-sung songs‍— {92}

2.120

“Those who perform many kinds of offerings to the relics‍—

They will all become buddhas in the world.

Even those who make a little offering to the relics of a sugata,

Who play music on just one instrument, {93}

2.121

“Or make an offering with just one flower,

Or make an offering with a distracted147 mind

To the image of a sugata in a mural,

They will eventually see millions of buddhas. {94}

2.122

“Those who make the gesture of homage to a stūpa,148

Either completely or even with just one hand;

Or bow their head for just an instant,

Or similarly bow their body just one time; {95}

2.123

“Or say ‘Homage to the Buddha’ just one time

To those containers of the relics‍—

Even those who do so once with a distracted mind‍—

They will all of them attain enlightenment. {96}

2.124

“Those beings who, at a time when the sugatas

Have passed into nirvāṇa or are present, [F.22.b]

Have heard this Dharma teaching’s name:

They will all of them attain enlightenment. {97}

2.125

“The many millions of buddhas in the future,

Who are innumerable, beyond reckoning,

Those jinas, supreme lords of the world,

They will also teach these methods. {98}

2.126

“They who guide millions of beings

To the immaculate wisdom of buddhahood,

Those guides of the world

Will have infinite skill in methods. {99}

2.127

“There will never be even one being

Who has heard this Dharma teaching that will not become a buddha.

The prayer of the tathāgatas is:

‘Having followed the path, may I make others follow it for enlightenment.’ {100}

2.128

“They will teach in the future times

Many thousand millions of entrances to the Dharma.

In buddhahood,149 they will teach the Dharma

Through teaching this single yāna.150 {101}

2.129

“This way of the Dharma is always constant;

The nature of the Dharma is always illuminating.

The buddhas, the supreme humans, will know it

And will expound this single yāna of mine. {102}

2.130

“The constancy of the Dharma, the eternality of the Dharma

Is always constant, unfluctuating in this world.

The buddhas in the center of the earth

Will expound buddhahood and skillfulness in methods. {103}

2.131

“The buddhas, as numerous as the Ganges sands,

Present in the ten directions, to whom humans and devas make offerings,

Also teach this supreme yāna 151

For the sake of the happiness of all beings. {104}

2.132

“The buddhas expound skillfulness in methods,152

And they teach different kinds of yānas.

They also elucidate the single yāna,

This supreme level of peace. {105}

2.133

“They teach through knowing the conduct of all beings

And similarly their thoughts and past practice,

Knowing their strengths and their diligence,

And through knowing their aspirations.153 {106}

2.134

“The guides,154 through the power of wisdom,

Teach many causes, parables, and supports.

Knowing the various aspirations of beings

They teach various kinds of practices. {107} [F.23.a]

2.135

“At this time, I, the guide who is a Lord of Jinas,

Have also appeared so that beings may attain happiness.

I teach this enlightenment of buddhahood

Through billions of various kinds of practices. {108}

2.136

“Knowing the thoughts and aspirations of beings

I teach the Dharma in many different forms.

I gladden them through various methods:

That is the power of my own wisdom. {109}

2.137

“I also see that destitute beings

Are without wisdom and merit.

They are sunk in saṃsāra, enveloped in misery,

And immersed in a continuum of suffering. {110}

2.138

“Bound to craving, the fools are like yaks;155

They are continually blinded by desire.

They do not seek buddhahood that has great power;156

They do not search for the Dharma that ends suffering. {111}

2.139

“Their minds are impeded in the six existences,

They adhere unshakably to incorrect views,

They experience suffering after suffering.

I have powerful compassion for them. {112}

2.140

“Knowing this, I remained

At the Bodhimaṇḍa for three full weeks.

I contemplated this meaning in that way

While gazing there upon the tree.157 {113}

2.141

“I stared, without blinking, at the lord of trees

While walking to and fro beneath it.158

‘This wisdom is preeminent and marvelous.

These beings are unwise and blinded by ignorance.’ {114}

2.142

“At that time I was entreated by Brahmā,

Śakra, the four world guardians,

And also Maheśvara and Īśvara,159

And many billions of maruts. {115}

2.143

“They all stood respectfully with palms together.

I contemplated my goal and how to accomplish it:

‘If I speak the praises of enlightenment

To these beings who are oppressed by suffering, {116}

2.144

“ ‘Those with foolish minds will reject my Dharma,

And having rejected it, they will go to the lower realms.

It is best that I never say anything.

May I enter nirvāṇa, peace, on this very day.’ {117}

2.145

“I remembered the buddhas of the past

And the skill in methods that they had: [F.23.b]

‘I too therefore shall teach this enlightenment

Of buddhahood divided into three categories.’ {118}

2.146

“I contemplated that meaning160 in this way,

And the other buddhas in the ten directions

Revealed their own bodies to me

And with their voices they declared, ‘Excellent! {119}

2.147

“ ‘Excellent,161 Muni, supreme Guide of the World,

Who, having attained the supreme wisdom,162

Is contemplating skill in methods,

Following the way of the guides of worlds. {120}

2.148

“ ‘We also, having realized the highest state,

Are teaching through a division into three.

Humans with inferior aspiration163 and lacking knowledge

Will not believe us if we say, “You shall become buddhas.”164 {121}

2.149

“ ‘Therefore we are employing skill in methods

Through a compilation of causes.

We are inspiring many bodhisattvas

By declaring what is the desired result.’ {122}

2.150

“I was filled with joy on having heard

The pleasant voices of the leaders of beings,

And filled with joy I said to those protectors,165

‘Supreme great rishis, you speak meaningfully. {123}

2.151

“ ‘I too will act in the way that the wise ones,

The guides of the world, have described.’166

I have also been born during this dreadful chaos,

In the midst of the degeneracy of beings. {124}

2.152

“And so, Śārisuta, knowing this,

At that time I walked to Vārāṇasī.

There, applying a method, I taught the five bhikṣus

The Dharma that is the state of pacification. {125}

2.153

“Then my wheel of the Dharma was turned,167

And the word nirvāṇa appeared in the world.

The word arhat and likewise the word Dharma

And the word saṅgha also appeared at that time. {126}

2.154

“I taught for numerous years,

Explaining the level of nirvāṇa.

At all times I taught in this way:

‘This is the end of saṃsāra’s suffering.’ {127}

2.155

“Śāriputra, there came a time

When I saw infinite thousands of quintillions168

Of offspring of the highest of humans

Who had set out for the supreme, highest enlightenment. {128} [F.24.a]

2.156

“They who had arrived before me

Stood respectfully with palms together.

They had heard the Dharma from the jinas

And were skilled in many kinds of methods. {129}

2.157

“Then in that instant I had this thought:

‘The time has come for me to teach the highest Dharma.

It is for that purpose that I was born into this world

And I shall teach here the highest enlightenment. {130}

2.158

“ ‘Those with foolish understanding, who conceptualize characteristics,

Who have become arrogant and who are lacking in wisdom

Will on this day not have faith in it.

But these bodhisattvas will listen to me.’ {131}

2.159

“At that time, fearlessly and joyfully,

Having abandoned every hesitation,

I spoke in the middle of the offspring of the sugatas

And inspired them toward enlightenment. {132}

2.160

“Having seen children of the buddhas such as these,

You too should be one who has banished doubt.

These twelve hundred who have no defilements

Will all become buddhas in this world. {133}

2.161

“Just like the nature of the past protectors

And like that of the jinas in the future,

I too have eliminated conceptualization

And will teach you in that way today. {134}

2.162

“Sometimes, somewhere, somehow,

A leader of beings appears in a world.

When someone with infinite vision appears in a world

Then sometimes this kind of Dharma may be taught. {135}

2.163

“Even in a million trillion eons it will be

Very difficult to find a supreme Dharma such as this.

It will be very difficult to find beings such as these

Who listen to the supreme Dharma and believe in it. {136}

2.164

“They are as difficult to find as a fig tree flower

That is sometimes, somehow, somewhere seen.

It may be a beautiful sight for beings

And a marvel for the world and its devas. {137}

2.165

“Therefore, I will teach the greatest marvel,

And whoever hears this well-taught Dharma,

Rejoices, and recites just one word of it

Will have made an offering to all the buddhas. {138}

2.166

“Banish all doubt and uncertainty concerning this. [F.24.b]

I, the King of the Dharma, shall proclaim it.

I shall guide toward the highest enlightenment;

Here, I have no śrāvakas whatsoever. {139}

2.167

“Śāriputra, you must keep this great secret.

And also all those who are my śrāvakas,

And these who are eminent bodhisattvas,

They must maintain this great secret of mine. {140}

2.168

“Why is that? In the time of five degenerations

There are beings who are cruel and evil.

They are blinded by desires and have foolish judgment

And they will never develop the aspiration to enlightenment. {141}

2.169

“In future times, beings will be confused,

And having heard this single yāna of mine

That has been taught by the Jina,

They will reject the discourse and go to hell. {142}

2.170

“To those beings who will be modest and pure

And are intent upon the supreme, highest enlightenment,

To them I will relate without any fear

Endless praises of the single yāna. {143}

2.171

“In this way, in the teaching of the guides,

This skill in methods, which is most excellent,

Has been taught many times in words with an implied meaning

That those who are untrained could not understand. {144}

2.172

“Therefore, understanding the implied meaning taught

By the buddhas, the teachers of the world, the protectors,

Rejecting doubts and abandoning uncertainty,

You will become buddhas, so be joyous!” {145}

2.173

This concludes “Skill in Methods,” the second chapter of the Dharma teaching of “The White Lotus of the Good Dharma.” [B3]

Chapter 3

The Parable

3.1

Then at that time, Śāriputra felt contented, delighted, elated, and joyful. With happiness and gladness he bowed with palms together toward the Bhagavān. Facing the Bhagavān, gazing solely upon the Bhagavān, he said to the Bhagavān, “Bhagavān, I am astonished and amazed. I am overjoyed to have heard this kind of speech from the Bhagavān.

3.2

“Why is that? Bhagavān, it is because I have never heard this kind of Dharma from the Bhagavān. When I saw other bodhisattvas and heard the names of the buddhas that those bodhisattvas will become in the future, and yet, still had not heard this kind of Dharma teaching from the Bhagavān, I imagined that I was deprived of that kind of vision of the tathāgatas’ wisdom,169 and was extremely grieved and extremely distressed. [F.25.a]

Chapter 4

The Aspiration

4.1

Then Brother Subhūti, Brother Mahākātyāyana, Mahākāśyapa, and Mahāmaudgalyāyana, having heard from the Bhagavān this kind of Dharma that they had never heard before, and having heard directly from the Bhagavān the prophecy of Brother Śāriputra’s attainment of the highest, supreme enlightenment, were amazed, astonished, and overjoyed.

At that time they rose from their seats, approached the Bhagavān, uncovered one shoulder, knelt on their right knees, and with palms together in homage to the Bhagavān, looking directly at the Bhagavān, they inclined their bodies, they bowed their bodies, they bowed well, bowed perfectly.

Chapter 5

Herbs

5.1

Then the Bhagavān said to Brother Mahākāśyapa and the other great sthaviras, “Excellent! Excellent, Kāśyapa! It is excellent, Kāśyapa, that you have praised the true qualities of the Tathāgata. Kāśyapa, those are qualities of the Tathāgata. There are immeasurably and innumerably more than those. It would not be easy to enumerate them entirely even in countless eons.

Chapter 6

The Prophecies to the Śrāvakas

6.1

When the Bhagavān had finished reciting those verses, he announced to the complete saṅgha of bhikṣus, “Oh bhikṣus! I declare to you,278 I make it known to you, that this śrāvaka bhikṣu of mine, Kāśyapa, will serve three hundred billion buddhas, will venerate them, honor them, make offerings to them, praise them, and respect them.279 He will hold the Dharma of those buddha bhagavāns. [F.55.a] In his last life, in an eon named Mahāvyūha, in a world named Avabhāsaprāptā, he will appear in the world as the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha, the one with perfect wisdom and conduct,280 the sugata, the one who knows the world, the unsurpassable guide who tames beings, the teacher of devas and humans, the buddha, the bhagavān named Raśmiprabhāsa. His lifespan will be twelve intermediate eons. His Dharma will remain for twenty intermediate eons, and the outer form of his Dharma will remain for a further twenty intermediate eons. His buddha realm will be pure and clean, without stones, pebbles, or gravel, without chasms or cliffs, without drains or cesspools.281 It will be flat, pleasant, beautiful, delightful, made of beryl, adorned by jewel trees, divided eightfold like a checkerboard by golden cords,282 and filled with flowers. There will be many hundred thousands of bodhisattvas there. There will be countless hundred thousand quintillions of śrāvakas there. The evil Māra and his followers will not appear there. Even if Māra and Māra’s followers were to appear there they would become dedicated to maintaining the Dharma taught by the bhagavān tathāgata Raśmiprabhāsa.”

Chapter 7

The Past

7.1

“Bhikṣus, in the past, in a time gone by, beyond and even further beyond the most countless, innumerable, incalculable, unquantifiable, inconceivable asaṃkhyeya eons ago, at that time, in that era, in an eon named Mahārūpa, in a world named Saṃbhavā, there appeared in that world the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha, the one with perfect wisdom and conduct, the sugata, the one who knows the world, the unsurpassable guide who tames beings, the teacher of devas and humans, the buddha, the bhagavān named Mahābhijñājñānābhibhū.

Chapter 8

The Prophecy to the Five Hundred Bhikṣus

8.1

Brother Pūrṇa Maitrāyaṇīputra, having heard directly from the Bhagavān about this wisdom insight into skillful methods, about the teachings with implied meaning, and having heard the prophecies made to the great śrāvakas, and having heard of the connections with the past, and having heard of the preeminence of the Bhagavān, was astonished and amazed, without worldly concerns, and filled with delight and joy. Then with great delight and joy and great reverence for the Dharma, he rose from his seat, bowed down to the feet of the Bhagavān, [F.75.b] and thought, “Bhagavān, it is wonderful! Sugata, it is wonderful! The tathāgatas, arhats, perfectly enlightened buddhas accomplish that which is extremely difficult‍—they teach the Dharma to beings according to the different concerns of the world, through many wisdom insights into skillful methods, and they liberate330 beings attached to this and that.331 Bhagavān, what are we able to do? The Tathāgata is the one who knows our aspirations and our past.”

Chapter 9

The Prophecies to Ānanda, Rāhula, and Two Thousand Bhikṣus

9.1

At that time, Brother Ānanda thought, “May I obtain a prophecy like these!” Thinking that, contemplating it, and wishing for it, he rose from his seat and bowed down to the Bhagavān’s feet. Brother Rāhula also, thinking, contemplating, and wishing for the same thing, bowed down to the Bhagavān’s feet, and they said, “Bhagavān, may we have such an opportunity! Sugata, may we have such an opportunity! Bhagavān, you are our father, our progenitor, our refuge, our support, and our protector. Bhagavān, we are honored by the world with its devas, humans, and asuras as the sons of the Bhagavān, the attendants of the Bhagavān, and the keepers of the Dharma treasure of the Bhagavān. Therefore, Bhagavān, it would be fitting if the Bhagavān were quickly to give us the prophecy of our attainment of the highest, complete enlightenment.”

10.

Chapter 10

The Dharmabhāṇakas

10.1

Then the Bhagavān said to the bodhisattva Bhaiṣajyarāja and eighty thousand other bodhisattvas, “Bhaiṣajyarāja, do you see this assembly’s numerous devas, nāgas, yakṣas, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kinnaras, mahoragas, humans and nonhumans, bhikṣus and bhikṣuṇīs, upāsakas and upāsikās, and followers of the Śrāvakayāna and the Bodhisattvayāna who have heard this Dharma teaching directly from the Tathāgata?” [F.84.a]

11.

Chapter 11

The Appearance of the Stūpa

11.1

Then a stūpa made of the seven precious materials arose from the center of the assembly, directly in front of the Bhagavān. It was five hundred yojanas tall and of a corresponding circumference. Having risen up, it remained suspended in the air, bright and beautiful, adorned with five thousand encircling railings358 covered in flowers, and beautified by many thousands of toraṇas, hung with thousands of sacred flags and banners of victory, [F.89.a] hung with thousands of strings of jewels, hung with thousands of streamers and bells, and emitting the aroma of bay leaves and sandalwood. That aroma spread throughout the entire all-containing world. Its crowning parasol reached as high as the palaces in the paradises of the Four Mahārājas. It was made of the seven precious materials, which are gold, silver, beryl, white coral, emerald, red pearl, and chrysoberyl. At the stūpa, devas of the Trāyastriṃśa paradise scattered coral tree and great coral tree flowers on the precious stūpa, bestrewing it with them, and covering it with them.

12.

Chapter 12

Resolutions

12.1

Then the bodhisattva mahāsattva Bhaiṣajyarāja and the bodhisattva mahāsattva Mahāpratibhāna, together with a following of two hundred thousand bodhisattvas, facing the Bhagavān, said, “Bhagavān, have no concern over this matter. Bhagavān, we will teach, we will expound this Dharma teaching to beings after the nirvāṇa of the Tathāgata.

“Bhagavān, in that time beings will be wicked, have few roots of merit, be arrogant, be devoted to gain and honor, engage in roots of demerit, be difficult to guide, have no interest, and be filled with disinterest, but, Bhagavān, we will demonstrate the power of patience and in that time we will teach this sūtra, we will uphold it, we will expound it, we will write it out, we will honor it, we will venerate it, and we will make offerings to it. Bhagavān, we will cast aside body and life and teach this sūtra. Therefore, Bhagavān, have no concern.”

13.

Chapter 13

Dwelling in Happiness

13.1

Then Mañjuśrī Kumārabhūta said to the Bhagavān, “Bhagavān, what these bodhisattva mahāsattvas are resolved to do because of their reverence for the Bhagavān is a difficult task, extremely difficult. Bhagavān, how should these bodhisattva mahāsattvas expound this Dharma teaching in the later times, in a later era?”

The Bhagavān said to Mañjuśrī Kumārabhūta, “Mañjuśrī, bodhisattva mahāsattvas should expound this Dharma teaching in the later times, in a later era, by maintaining four qualities. What are these four?

14.

Chapter 14

The Bodhisattvas Emerging Out of the Ground

14.1

Then the bodhisattvas who had arrived from other world realms, who were as numerous as the grains of sand in eight Ganges Rivers, stood up in the circle of the assembly, bowed to the Bhagavān with hands together in homage, and said these words:

“Bhagavān, if the Bhagavān will permit us, [F.111.a] after the Tathāgata has passed into nirvāṇa, we too will teach this Dharma teaching in the Sahā world realm. We will read it, write it, and make offerings to it. We shall be dedicated to this Dharma teaching. Bhagavān, teach well this Dharma teaching to us.”

15.

Chapter 15

The Lifespan of the Tathāgata

15.1

Then the Bhagavān said to the complete assembly of bodhisattvas, “Noble ones, have faith and certainty in the true words that I, the Tathāgata, will speak.”

The Bhagavān said a second time, and a third time, to those bodhisattvas, “Noble ones, have faith and certainty in the true words that I, the Tathāgata, will speak. Noble ones, have faith and certainty in the true words that I, the Tathāgata, will speak.”

16.

Chapter 16

The Extent of the Merit

16.1

When the teaching of the Tathāgata’s lifespan was taught it benefited innumerable, countless beings. The Bhagavān said at that time to the bodhisattva mahāsattva Maitreya, “Ajita, when the Dharma teaching that teaches the Tathāgata’s lifespan was given, a hundred thousand quintillion bodhisattvas, as numerous as the grains of sand in sixty-eight Ganges Rivers, developed receptivity to the birthlessness of phenomena.

17.

Chapter 17

Teaching the Merit of Rejoicing

17.1

Then the bodhisattva mahāsattva Maitreya asked the Bhagavān, [F.129.a] “Bhagavān, if a noble man or noble woman rejoices after hearing this Dharma teaching explained, how much merit, Bhagavān, does that noble man or noble woman create?” And at that time the bodhisattva mahāsattva Maitreya also addressed to him this verse:

17.2

“After the nirvāṇa of the great Hero,

How much merit will there be

For someone who listens to this kind of sūtra,

And having heard it, rejoices?” {1}

18.

Chapter 18

The Benefits of the Purity of the Six Āyatanas

18.1

Then the Bhagavān said to the bodhisattva mahāsattva Satatasamitābhiyukta, “If any noble man or noble woman possesses, reads, teaches, or asks questions about this Dharma teaching, that noble man or noble woman will gain eight hundred qualities of the eyes, will gain twelve hundred qualities of the nose, will gain eight hundred qualities of the ears, will gain twelve hundred qualities of the tongue, will gain eight hundred qualities of the body, and will gain twelve hundred qualities of mind.

19.

Chapter 19

Sadāparibhūta

19.1

Then the Bhagavān said to the bodhisattva mahāsattva Mahāsthāmaprāpta, “Mahāsthāmaprāpta, you should know that this Dharma teaching is like this: Whoever rejects this Dharma teaching, and scolds, rebukes, and speaks crudely489 and harshly to the bhikṣus, [F.139.b] bhikṣuṇīs, upāsakas, and upāsikās who possess such a sūtra as this, will experience the undesirable result ripening from that, which is that they will be unable to speak words. Whoever possesses such a sūtra as this, reads it, studies it, teaches it, and teaches it extensively to others will have the desirable result ripening from that, which is, as I have said before, that they will attain purified eyes, nose, ears, tongue, body, and mind.

20.

Chapter 20

The Tathāgata’s Miracles

20.1

Then those hundreds of millions of quintillions of bodhisattvas who had emerged from the ground, as numerous as the atoms in a world realm, placed their hands together in homage and said to the Bhagavān, “Bhagavān, we will teach this Dharma teaching in all the buddha realms where the Tathāgata has passed into nirvāṇa, and in the buddha realms where the Bhagavān will pass into nirvāṇa.

21.

Chapter 21

Dhāraṇīs

21.1

498Then the bodhisattva mahāsattva Bhaiṣajyarāja rose from his seat, removed his upper robe from one shoulder, knelt on his right knee, [F.147.a] and with his hands together in homage bowed toward the Bhagavān and said to the Bhagavān, “Bhagavān, how much merit will a noble man or noble woman generate by carrying this Dharma teaching The White Lotus of the Good Dharma on their body or making a text of it?”

22.

Chapter 22

The Past of Bhaiṣajyarāja

22.1

Then the bodhisattva mahāsattva Nakṣatrarājasaṃkusumitābhijña said to the Bhagavān, “Bhagavān, through what cause is the bodhisattva mahāsattva Bhaiṣajyarāja active in this Sahā world realm? Bhagavān, he must have undergone many hundred thousands of quintillions of hardships. I request the Tathāgata, the Arhat, the perfectly enlightened Buddha to speak of just a fraction of what the bodhisattva mahāsattva Bhaiṣajyarāja has practiced, so that those who have heard the Bhagavān‍—the devas, nāgas, yakṣas, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kinnaras, mahoragas, humans and nonhumans, and the bodhisattva mahāsattvas who have arrived here from other world realms and these great śrāvakas‍—will all be pleased, delighted, and happy.”

23.

Chapter 23

Gadgadasvara

23.1

Then at that time the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha Śākyamuni emitted light from the ūrṇā hair between his eyebrows, which was a sign of a great being. That light shone throughout hundreds of thousands of quintillions of buddha realms in the east, which were as numerous as the grains of sand in eighteen Ganges Rivers. Beyond those hundreds of thousands of quintillions of buddha realms, which were as numerous as the grains of sand in eighteen Ganges Rivers, there was the world realm named Vairocanaraśmipratimaṇḍitā, in which there lived, was present, and remained the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha named Kamaladalavimalanakṣatrarājasaṃkusumitābhijña. He was accompanied and revered by an immeasurably great saṅgha of bodhisattvas. Then the ray of light emitted by the bhagavān tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha Śākyamuni from his ūrṇā hair shone at that time throughout the world realm Vairocanaraśmipratimaṇḍitā.

24.

Chapter 24

Facing Everywhere: The Teaching of the Miracles of Avalokiteśvara

24.1

596Then the bodhisattva mahāsattva Akṣayamati rose from his seat, removed his upper robe from one shoulder, knelt on his right knee, and with his hands together in homage bowed toward the Bhagavān and asked the Bhagavān, “Bhagavān, why is the bodhisattva mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara called Avalokiteśvara?” [F.164.b]

24.2

The Bhagavān said to the bodhisattva mahāsattva Akṣayamati, “Noble one, if the hundred thousand quintillion beings in this world who are experiencing suffering were to hear the name of the bodhisattva mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara they would all become freed from that mass of suffering.

25.

Chapter 25

The Past of King Śubhavyūha

25.1

Then the Bhagavān said to the all-inclusive assembly of bodhisattvas, “Noble ones, in the past, in a time gone by, countless eons ago, at that time, in that era, in an eon named Priyadarśana, in a world named Vairocanaraśmipratimaṇḍitā, there appeared in that world the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha, the one with perfect wisdom and conduct, the sugata, the one who knows the world’s beings, the unsurpassable guide who tamed beings, the teacher of devas and humans, the buddha, the bhagavān named Jaladharagarjitaghoṣasusvaranakṣatrarājasaṃkusumitābhijña.

26.

Chapter 26

Samantabhadra’s Encouragement

26.1

The bodhisattva mahāsattva Samantabhadra, leading a following of countless bodhisattva mahāsattvas, and leading a following of countless devas, nāgas, yakṣas, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kinnaras, and mahoragas, humans, and nonhumans, came from the east, and the realms shook, a rain of lotuses fell, and a hundred thousand quintillion musical instruments played. With the great power of a bodhisattva, with the great manifestations of a bodhisattva, with the great miraculous power of a bodhisattva, with the great majesty636 of a bodhisattva, with the great brilliant magnificence of a bodhisattva, with the great way637 of a bodhisattva, with the great miracles of a bodhisattva, and with the great miraculous manifestation of leading a following638 of devas, nāgas, yakṣas, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kinnaras, mahoragas, humans, and nonhumans‍—it was with such an inconceivable miraculous manifestation that the bodhisattva mahāsattva Samantabhadra came to this Sahā world realm.

27.

Chapter 27

The Entrusting

27.1

Then the bhagavān, the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha Śākyamuni [F.179.b] rose from his Dharma seat and manifested the miracle of his right hand taking hold of the right hands of those in the entire gathering of bodhisattvas. At that time he said, “Noble ones, this highest, complete enlightenment that I accomplished after a hundred thousand quintillion asaṃkhyeya eons I place in your hands: I entrust it to you, I present it to you, and I pass it on to you. Noble ones, you should do whatever will make it extensively widespread.”

Colophon

c.1

Translated, revised, and finalized by the Indian Upādhyāya Surendrabodhi and the chief editor Lotsawa Bandé Nanam Yeshé Dé.

Notes

n.1

See Jamieson (2002) for a list of the numerous scholarly works.

n.2

Karashima (2015).

n.3

Dessein (2009): 36–37.

n.4

Zhongxin (1997).

n.5

Karashima (2001).

n.6

Karashima (2001): 212.

n.7

Lopez (2016): 21.

n.8

Deeg (1999).

n.56

There have been two ways to interpret this traditional beginning of a sūtra, with such Indian masters as Kamalaśīla claiming that both are equally correct. The alternative interpretation is “Thus have I heard: at one time, the Bhagavān…,” and so on. The various arguments, both traditional and modern, for either side are given by Brian Galloway in “Thus have I heard: At one time…,” Indo-Iranian Journal 34, no. 2 (April 1991): 87–104.

n.57

This figure is from the Sanskrit. The Tibetan in all Kangyurs has twelve thousand, as do the Chinese translations by Kumārajīva (T.262, early fifth century) and by Jñānagupta and Dharmagupta (T.264, early seventh century). The Chinese translation by Dharmarakṣa (T.263, late third century), however, has 1,200 like the Sanskrit, while the other early Chinese translation, which is anonymous, has 42,000 (大比丘眾四萬二千人俱).

n.58

Sanskrit ājāneya; Tibetan cang shes. Ājāneya was incorrectly defined as meaning “all-knowing” and was translated therefore into Tibetan as cang shes (“all-knowing”). The term ājāneya was primarily used for thoroughbred horses, but was also applied to people in a laudatory sense.

n.59

This term probably has its origins in being a translation into Sanskrit from the Middle Indic mahānāga, the Sanskrit equivalent of which should have been mahānagna, which has the meaning of “a great champion, a man of distinction and nobility.”

n.60

According to the BHS abhijñatābhijñata, where the same word is repeated with different meanings. The Tibetan translates both identically in most Kangyurs as mngon par shes pa mngon par shes pa, and in others such as Degé and Lhasa as mngon par shes pas mngon par shes pa.

n.99

According to the Sanskrit. Tibetan: Śāridvataputra.

n.100

This begins a section that plays with the multiple interlinked valences of the term “dharma” (chos) as “teaching” or “doctrine” (Dharma), which describes the “reality” (dharma) of all “phenomena” (dharmas), the “trainings” (dharmas) necessary to awakened to that reality, and the awakened “qualities” (dharmas) of one who has so awakened. The sense in this particular instance is of course the awakened “qualities” of a thus-gone one. We leave “dharma(s)” (chos) untranslated throughout this section in an attempt to not overly constrain the term’s multiple entendre.

n.101

According to the Sanskrit compound, while the Tibetan lists “strength” as a distinct unit in the list, resulting in it being mentioned twice.

n.102

According to the Sanskrit tathāgatasya. The Tibetan translates as de bzhin gshegs pa nyid la, which would more likely render the Sanskrit tathāgatatve; this was perhaps the reading reflected in the Sanskrit manuscript used by the Tibetan translators. The most obvious English translation of tathāgatatve would be, “in tathagātahood,” or “in tathagātaness,” but the term might also involve an idiomatic use of the abstract tva (see Speijer, Sanskrit Syntax, p. 184 #238), in which case the phrase would be rendered: “The tathāgatas should teach the dharmas as tathāgathas.” “As” here would have the sense of “having the status of / in the role of.”

n.103

According to the Tibetan mkhyen. The Sanskrit has pratyakṣo ’parokṣaḥ (“directly perceived”).

n.104

“Dharmas” here and throughout the rest of this passage most likely signals awakened “qualities” and “phenomena” in general.

n.105

According to the Tibetan. Sanskrit: “Enough, Śāriputra!”

n.106

According to the Tibetan. Sanskrit: “Highest of jinas.”

n.107

See n.105.

n.108

According to the Tibetan. “Parables” is not present in the Sanskrit.

n.109

According to the Tibetan, translating from taddharma. The Sanskrit has saddharma.

n.110

According to the Sanskrit. The Tibetan has pas instead of pa’i.

n.111

See n.108.

n.112

The Sanskrit also has “according to the various aspirations, natures, and thoughts of beings.”

n.113

See n.108.

n.114

The Sanskrit also has “according to the various aspirations, natures, and thoughts of beings.”

See n.108.

See n.114.

See n.108.

See n.114.

According to the Sanskrit saṃksobha. The Tibetan appears to have ’khrul pa in error for ’khrug pa.

n.120

According to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit has: “when many beings are bewildered and have few roots of merit.”

n.121

According to the Lithang, Kangxi, Narthang, and Choné Kangyurs: ’chad, and the Sanskrit deśakāḥ. The Degé has the scribal corruption ’chang (“hold”).

n.122

According to the BHS avakalpayata. The Tibetan translates as rtogs (“realize”).

n.123

The Tibetan translates chidra as “torn,” which is one of the other meanings of the word.

n.124

According to the Tibetan, which is a conceivable rendering of the Classical Sanskrit understanding of the verse and better accords with the sense of the corresponding prose passage above. The Sanskrit reads: apaśyanta imaṃ doṣaṃ chidraśikṣāsamanvitāḥ / vraṇāṃśca parirakṣantaḥ prakrāntā bālabuddhayaḥ //. The BHS understanding of this verse would be: “They have impaired training / And do not see this wrong of theirs; / They maintain their flaws, / Have foolish understanding, and have departed.”

n.125

According to the Sanskrit nāyakāḥ, which is usually translated into Tibetan as ’dren pa, but here as skyobs pa (“refuge,” “protector”).

n.126

According to the Tibetan. Sanskrit: “all beings.”

n.127

Literally, sūtra. However, in terms of the classification of the twelve aspects of the Dharma, sūtra refers to the prose passages within the sūtras.

n.128

According to the Sanskrit balābala (literally, “strength and nonstrength”). Tibetan: mthus dang stobs (“power and strength”).

n.129

Literally, “sons of the buddhas”: sangs rgyas sras; buddhaputrāḥ.

n.130

According to the BHS vyakta. The Tibetan translates in accordance with the classical Sanskrit meaning as gsal ba (“clear”), which appears to be less appropriate in this context.

n.131

According to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit has “my highest teaching.”

n.132

According to the Sanskrit: yathā ca paśyāmi yathā ca cintaye yathā ca saṃkalpa mamāsi pūrvam / paripūrṇametat praṇidhānu mahyaṃ buddhā ca bodhiṃ ca prakāśayāmi //. The Tibetan, however, might very well also make sense in the context. It reads as follows: “Just as I see and just as I thought / And just as I resolved in the past, / My aspirations have been fulfilled, / But having awakened to awakening, I have not taught it” (/ji ltar mthong zhing ji ltar bsams pa dang/ /nga yis sngon chad ji ltar brnags pa de/ /nga yi smon lam de dag yongs rdzogs te/ /byang chub sangs rgyas nas ni ma bstan/).

n.133

According to Sanskrit bhrameyuḥ, which could also mean “become dizzy.” The Tibetan translates as “become insane.”

n.134

Literally, buddhaputras.

n.135

According to the Stok Palace Kangyur mang, which accords with the Sanskrit [a]neke. The other Tibetan versions consulted appear to have a corruption of mang to ngam.

n.136

According to the Sanskrit. The Tibetan translates as “piled up from earth and bricks.”

n.137

This and the previous verse were quoted by Śāntideva in his A Compendium of Trainings (bslab pa kun las btus pa; Śikṣāsamuccaya), 56b. The Tibetan translation had Yeshé Dé as chief editor and therefore used the verses from his committee’s translation of the Lotus Sūtra.

n.138

According to the Sanskrit pustakarman. The Tibetan interprets it as “modeled from clay” (’jib) even though clay (mṛttika; sa) already appears in the list.

n.139

According to the Tibetan. Sanskrit: paṭaha drums. The paṭaha is a cylindrical drum hung from the body and usually played standing up, beating it with drumsticks.

n.140

A conical or bowl kettledrum, also called a nagada. The upper surface is beaten with sticks; often in pairs, one larger than the other.

n.141

According to the Tibetan. Sanskrit: “Those who play and cause others to play music / with the pleasing sounds of bherī drums, conches, and paṭaha drums, / making music and beating drums / as an offering to the perfectly enlightened ones” (See Vaidya ed.: vādyā ca vādāpita yehi tatra bheryo ’tha śaṅkhāḥ paṭahāḥ sughoṣakāḥ / nirnāditā dundubhayaśca yehi pūjāvidhānāya varāgrabodhinām //).

n.142

A kettledrum played horizontally, with the hands. It is wider in the middle, with the skin at both ends. One drumhead is smaller than the other. It is a South Indian drum, and maintains the rhythm in Karnataka music.

n.143

According to the Tibetan rgyud gcig. The Sanskrit for this should be ekatantri. The ekatantri was a popular single-stringed instrument that was made of a long bamboo tube and a gourd resonator. Notes were formed by sliding a short bamboo or wooden rod along the string. However, the text of the sūtra has tunava, which the Mahāvyutpatti states is rgyud gcig, but Sanskrit dictionaries define it as a flute or a drum.

n.144

According to the Sanskrit ekotsava, which could be interpreted as “solely joyful,” or “solely for festivity.” The Tibetan did not translate it but rendered it as e ko na. Therefore, the Tibetan was using a manuscript that appears to have had ekonnaḍa, which is a variant of ekotsava.

n.145

According to the Tibetan lcags kyi sil khrol. The Sanskrit jhallarī at present refers to the stringed instrument from South India named jhallari. Burnouf translated as “cymbals of iron.”

n.146

This refers to the jaltarang, an ancient Indian musical instrument that consists of a semicircle of metal bowls, each with a different quantity of water within them, that are struck with sticks. The Sanskrit here is jalamaṇḍaka, and the Tibetan is chu la brdabs.

n.147

According to the Sanskrit vikṣipta and the context. It could also mean “distraught,” and the Tibetan ’khrug pa could mean “disturbed.” The Tibetan translates vikṣipta as g.yengs pa (“distracted”) two verses further on.

n.148

According to the Stok Palace Kangyur and the Sanskrit. Other Tibetan versions consulted have the plural dag.

n.149

Literally “in tathagātahood” or “in tathagātaness.” Sanskrit: tathāgatatve; Tibetan: de bzhin gshegs pa nyid. It is also possible that tathāgatatve here is an idiomatic use of the abstract tva (see Speijer, Sanskrit Syntax, p. 184 #238): “They will teach the Dharma as a tathāgatha.” “As” here has the sense of “having the status of / in the role of.”

n.150

Some, but not all translations from the Chinese have here a verse about the insubstantiality of phenomena and buddhahood through dependent origination.

n.151

According to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit and Chinese have: “the supreme enlightenment.”

n.152

According to the Sanskrit and mkhas pa in the Yongle, Lithang, Kangxi, Narthang, and Choné Kangyurs. The Degé has mkhas pas.

n.153

According to the Sanskrit adhimukta and the Tibetan translation of the same word as smos pa in the next verse. In this verse most Kangyurs have shin tu dag pa (“extreme purity”) and in the Degé it is shin tu dad pa (“strong faith”), which appears to be the intended translation.

n.154

According to the Sanskrit. The Tibetan has ’dren pa’i instead of ’dren pa, which appears to be an early scribal error.

n.155

According to the Sanskrit. The Tibetan omits “fools,” and translates camarī as “yak’s tail,” whereas it is the female for yak (camara). The yak’s tail is more commonly the vṛddhi form cāmara. The Chinese also translates as “yak’s tail.” The explanation in that case is that it is referring to the yak and its relationship to its tail.

n.156

According to the Sanskrit, which is in the singular. The Tibetan is in the plural.

n.157

The Chinese appears to add “walking around,” which is derived from the next verse.

n.158

According to the Sanskrit. The Tibetan has phan tshun ’chag cing gnas.

n.159

According to the Sanskrit. The Tibetan and Chinese drop “Īśvara” even though he appears earlier in the sūtra along with the four world guardians and Maheśvara. Both names are elsewhere usually synonymous with Śiva, which may be why it was omitted at this point.

n.160

According to the Tibetan don. The Sanskrit has Dharma. The Chinese has no object.

n.161

According to the Sanskrit. The Tibetan transposes “excellent” to the end of the verse.

n.162

According to the Sanskrit and Tibetan. The Chinese has “supreme Dharma.”

n.163

According to the Sanskrit adhimukta. The Tibetan translates as dad pa (“faith”). The Chinese translates as “aspiration for inferior Dharma.”

n.164

According to the Sanskrit, and in agreement with the Chinese. The Tibetan appears to have translated this as, “They will not have faith in the buddhas.”

n.165

According to the Sanskrit tāyina, and most Kangyurs. The Degé and Comparative Edition have spyod in error for skyob. In the Chinese the following lines are presented as the Buddha’s thoughts to himself, including the second part of verse 24.

n.166

According to the Tibetan. There is no clear indication in the Sanskrit where the speech of the Buddha to the other buddhas ends.

n.167

According to the Sanskrit. The Tibetan has yis in error for yi.

n.168

According to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit has “numerous ten thousand millions.”

n.169

According to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit has “deprived of the scope of wisdom of the tathāgatas, and of the vision of their wisdom.”

n.278

According to the BHS ārocayāmi. The Tibetan mos par bya could be interpreted as “make you aspire.”

n.279

According to the Sanskrit. The last two activities are absent from the Tibetan, but when this passage is repeated further on in this chapter they are included in the Tibetan, and so there appears to be an unintended omission here.

n.280

According to the commentary this refers to the eightfold path, with wisdom being the right view and conduct being the other seven aspects of the path.

n.281

According to the BHS gūtholigalla. The Tibetan translates obscurely as sme ba (“spots”).

n.282

See n.179.

n.330

According to the Sanskrit pramocayanti and, in part, the Stok Palace Kangyur ’grol ba. The other Tibetan versions consulted have ’grel ba; a Tibetan translation of the causative Sanskrit verb form would more likely be sgrol ba.

n.331

The syntax is according to the Sanskrit; the Tibetan reverses the order of the sentences.

n.358

According to the Sanskrit vedikā. The Tibetan translates as stegs bu, “platforms,” Burnouf as “balconies,” and Kern as “terraces.” However, vedikā here refers to the railings in which the toraṇas, or “gateways,” are set. While the vedikās do serve as railings for elevated platforms, which serve as circumambulatory walkways, they also encircle the stūpa on the surrounding flat ground.

n.489

According to the Tibetan tshogs par mi dbyung ba (“unfit for a gathering”), which will have been a translation of asabhya. The Sanskrit has asatya (“falsely”), which appears to have been the source of the Chinese translation.

n.498

In the Chinese translation this chapter is later, following the chapter on Avalokiteśvara.

n.596

“Facing everywhere” in the chapter title is translated according to the Sanskrit samantamukha, which has also became an epithet for the many-faced forms of Avalokiteśvara. The Tibetan translates as kun nas sgo (taking the alternative meaning of “door” from mukha) which could be literally translated as “doors on all sides.” However, in the Mahāvyutpatti we find samanta-spharaṇa-mukha translated as bzhin kun tu khyab pa (“face that pervades everywhere”). Other translations have included “all-sided one” and “all-sidedness.” Burnouf translates as “Celui dont la face regarde de tous les côtés,” correcting his earlier translation based on a misreading of samantamukha as samantasukha (“complete bliss”). The meaning, however translated, refers to Avalokiteśvara regarding all beings.

n.636

According to the Sanskrit. “Great” is absent from the Tibetan. The Sanskrit mahata bodhisattvamāhātmyena manages to keep the two similar words apart.

n.637

According to the Sanskrit mahatā bodhisattvayānena. The Tibetan could be interpreted to mean specifically the mahāyāna.

n.638

“leading a following” is absent from the Tibetan.

Bibliography

Tibetan Editions of the Sūtra

dam chos padma dkar po’i mdo (Saddharmapuṇḍarīkasūtra) [The White Lotus of the Good Dharma]. Toh 113, Degé Kangyur, 103 vols. New Delhi: Karmapae Chodhey Gyalwae Sungrab Patrun Khang, 1976–79, vol. 51 (mdo sde, ja), folios 1a–180b.

‍—‍—‍—. bka’ ’gyur (dpe bsdur ma) [Comparative Edition of the Kangyur], krung go’i bod rig pa zhib ’jug ste gnas kyi bka’ bstan dpe sdur khang (The Tibetan Tripitaka Collation Bureau of the China Tibetology Research Center). 108 volumes. Beijing: krung go’i bod rig pa dpe skrun khang (China Tibetology Publishing House), 2006–2009, vol. 51 (mdo sde, ja), pp. 3–427.

‍—‍—‍—. Choné Kangyur (co ne bka’ ’gyur). 108 vols. Choné: co ne par khang, 1926, vol. 31 (mdo sde, ja), folios 1–212b.

‍—‍—‍—. Lhasa Kangyur (lha sa bka’ ’gyur). 100 vols. Lhasa: zhol bka’ ’gyur par khang, 1934, vol. 53 (mdo sde, ja), folios 1b–285b.

‍—‍—‍—. Narthang Kangyur (snar thang bka’ ’gyur). 102 vols. Narthang: snar thang par khang, eighteenth century, vol. 53 (mdo sde, ja), folios 1b–281b.

‍—‍—‍—. Stok Palace Kangyur (stog pho brang bris ma bka’ ’gyur). 109 vols. Leh: smad rtsis shes rig dpe mdzod, 1975–80. vol. 67 (mdo sde, ma), folios 1a–270b.

‍—‍—‍—. Urga Kangyur (ur ga bka’ ’gyur). New Delhi: International Academy of Indian Culture, 1990–94. vol. 51 (mdo sde, ja), folios 1a–180b.

Khangkar, Tsultrim Kelsang (ed.) bod gyur dam pa’i chos padma dkar po zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo: Tibetan Translation of Saddharmapuṇḍarīka-sūtra. Nyin bod nang rig deb grangs (Japanese and Tibetan Buddhist Culture Series) XI. Kyoto: Tibetan Buddhist Culture Association, 2009.

Sanskrit Editions of the Sūtra

Zhongxin, Jiang. Sanskrit Lotus Sutra Fragments from the Lüshun Museum Collection. Tokyo: Sōka Gakkai, 1997.

Vaidya, P. L. Saddharmapuṇḍarīkasūtra. Darbhanga: The Mithila Institute of Post-Graduate Studies and Research in Sanskrit Learning, 1960.

Watanabe, Shōkō. Saddharmapuṇḍarīka Manuscripts Found in Gilgit. Tokyo: Reiyukai, 1972–75.

Wogihara, Unrai and Tsuchida, Chikao. Saddharmapuṇḍarīka-sūtram: Romanized and Revised Text of the Bibliotheca Buddhica publication by consulting a Sanskrit Ms. & Tibetan and Chinese translations. Tōkyō: Seigo-Kenkyūkai, 1934–35.

Translations of the Sūtra

Borsig, Margareta von. Lotos-Sutra: Das Große Erleuchtungsbuch des Buddhismus. Freiburg: Herder, 2003.

Burnouf, Eugene. Le lotus de la bonne loi. Paris: L’imprimerie Nationale, 1852.

Hurvitz, Leon. Scripture of the Lotus Blossom of the Fine Dharma. New York: Columbia University Press, 1976.

Katō, Bunnō. “The Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Law.” In The Threefold Lotus Sutra, translated by Bunnō Katō, Yoshirō Tamura, and Kōjirō Miyasaka, with revisions by W. E. Soothill, Wilhelm Schiffer, and Pier P. Del Campana, 18–213. New York and Tokyo: Weatherhill and Kosei, 1993.

Kern, H. Saddharma-Puṇḍarīka or the Lotus of the Good Law. Sacred Books of the East XXII. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1884.

Kubo, Tsugunari and Akira Yuyama. The Lotus Sutra. Berkeley: Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research (revised second edition), 2007.

Montgomery, Daniel B. The Lotus Sutra: The Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma. Tokyo: Nichiren Shu Headquarters, 1991.

Murano, Senchū. The Lotus Sutra: Sutra of the Lotus of the Wonderful Dharma. Hayward, CA: Nichiren Buddhist International Center, 1974.

Reeves, Gene. The Lotus Sutra: A Contemporary Translation of a Buddhist Classic. Somerville, MA: Wisdom Publications, 2008.

Soothill, W.E. The Lotus of the Wonderful Law, or The Lotus Gospel. Richmond: Curzon Press, 1987.

Watson, Burton. The Lotus Sutra. New York: Columbia University Press, 1993.

Other Kangyur Texts

rgya cher rol pa’i mdo (Lalitavistarasūtra, Toh 95. Degé Kangyur vol. 46 (mdo sde, kha), folios 1b–216b. English translation in Dharmachakra Translation committee (2013).

ting nge ’dzin gyi rgyal po’i mdo (Samādhirājasūtra), Toh 127, Degé Kangyur vol. 55 (mdo sde, da), folios 1a–175b. English translation in Roberts (2018).

de bzhin gshegs pa thams cad kyi gsang ba’i mdo (Tathāgataghuyakasūtra) [The Secret of the Tathāgatas Sūtra]. Toh 443, Degé Kangyur vol. 81 (rgyud, ca), folios 90a–157b.

phal po che’i mdo (Avataṁsakasūtra) [A Multitude of Buddhas Sūtra]. Toh 44, Degé Kangyur vols. 35–38 (phal chen, ka–a), folios ka 1a–nga 363a.

lang kar gshegs pa’i mdo (Laṅkāvatārasūtra) [The Entry into Laṅka Sutra]. Toh 107, Degé Kangyur vol. 49 (mdo sde, ca), folios 56a–191b.

shes rab pha rol tu phyin pa brgyad stong pa (Aṣṭasāhasrikāprajñāpāramitā) [The Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Verses]. Toh 12, Degé Kangyur vol. 33 (brgyad stong pa, ka), folios 1b–286a.

sa bcu pa’i mdo (Daśabhūmikasūtra) [The Sūtra of the Ten Bhūmis]. Chapter 31, in Toh 44, Degé Kangyur vol. 36 (phal chen, kha), folios 166a–283a. English translation in Roberts (2021).

gser ’od dam pa’i mdo (Suvarṇaprabhāsūtra) [The Golden Light Sūtra]. Toh 556, Degé Kangyur vol. 89 (rgyud, pa), folios 151b–273a. English translation in Roberts (2024).

Tengyur Texts

Abhayākaragupta. thub pa’i dgongs pa’i rgyan (Munimatālaṁkāra). Toh 3903, Degé Tengyur vol. 210 (dbu ma, a), folios 73b–293a.

Asaṅga. theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma’i bstan bcos rnam par bshad pa (Mahāyānottaratantraśāstravyākhyā). Toh 4025, Degé Tengyur vol. 225 (sems tsam, phi), folios 74b–129a.

Candrakīrti. dbu ma la ’jug pa’i bshad pa (Madhyamakāvatārabhāṣya). Toh 3862, Degé Tengyur vol. 204 (dbu ma, ’a), folios 220b–348a.

‍—‍—‍—. byang chub sems dpa’i rnal ’byor spyod pa bzhi brgya pa’i ’grel pa (Bodhisattvayogacaryācatuḥśatakaṭīkā) Toh 3865, Degé Tengyur vol. 205 (dbu ma, ya), folios 30b–239a.

Daṃṣṭrāsena, Vasubandhu, or neither. shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa ’bum pa dang nyi khri lnga stong pa dang khri brgyad stong pa’i rgya cher bshad pa (Śatasāhasrikāpañcaviṁśatisāhasrikaṣṭādaśasāhasrikāprajñāpāramitābṛhaṭṭīkā). Toh 3808, Degé Tengyur vol. 93 (sher phyin, pha), folios 1a–292b. English translation in Sparham (2022).

Dharmamitra. tshig rab tu gsal ba (Prasphuṭapadā). Toh 3796, Degé Tengyur vol. 87 (sher phyin, nya), folios 1a–110a.

Jānavajra. de bzhin gshegs pa’i snying po’i rgyan (Tathāgatahṛdayālaṁkāra). Toh 4019, Degé Tengyur vol. 224 (mdo ’grel, pi), folios 1a–310a.

Kamalaśīla. shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa bdun brgya pa rgya cher bshad pa (Saptaśatikāprajñāpāramitāṭīkā). Toh 3815, Degé Tengyur vol. 95 (sher phyin, ma), folios 89a–178a.

Maitreya-Asaṅga. theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma’i bstan bcos (Mahāyānottaratantraśāstra) [A Mahāyāna Treatise on the Supreme Continuum]. Toh 4024, Degé Tengyur vol. 225 (sems tsam, phi), folios 54b–73a.

Nāgārjuna. mdo kun las btus pa (Sūtrasamuccaya). Toh 3934, Degé Tengyur vol. 212 (dbu ma, ki), folios 148b–215a.

Saitsalak (sa’i rtsa lag, Kuiji, Pṛthivībandhu). dam pa’i chos padma dkar po’i ’grel pa. Toh 4017, Degé Tengyur, vol. 120 (mdo ’grel, di), folios 175b–302a.

‍—‍—‍—. dam pa’i chos padma dkar po’i ’grel pa. bstan ’gyur (dpe bsdur ma) [Comparative Edition of the Tengyur], krung go’i bod rig pa zhib ’jug ste gnas kyi bka’ bstan dpe sdur khang (The Tibetan Tripitaka Collation Bureau of the China Tibetology Research Center). 120 volumes. Beijing: krung go’i bod rig pa dpe skrun khang (China Tibetology Publishing House), 1994–2008, vol. 69 (mdo sde, di, vol. 135), pp. 476–826.

Śāntideva. bslab pa kun las btus pa (Śikṣāsamuccaya). Toh 3940, Degé Tengyur vol. 111 (dbu ma, khi), folios 3a–194b.

Vasubandhu. theg pa chen po bsdus pa’i ’grel pa (Mahāyānasaṁgrahabhāṣya). Toh 4050, Degé Tengyur vol. 225 (sems tsam, yi), folios 121b–190a.

Wantsik (wan tshig, Yuan Tso). dgongs pa zab mo nges par ’grel pa (Gambhīrasaṁdhinirmocanasūtraṭīkā). Toh 4016, Degé Tengyur vols. 220–22 (mdo ’grel, ti–ti), folios ti 1a–di 175a.

Secondary Tibetan Sources

Lodrö Gyaltsen (blo gros rgyal mtshan). dam chos pad dkar gyi tshig don la gzhan gyi log par rtog pa dgag pa. In Sa skya bka’ ’bum vol. 15, Kathmandu: Sachen International, 2006, folios 469–485.

Butön Rinchen Drup (bu ston rin chen grub). bde bar gshegs pa’i bstan pa’i gsal byed chos kyi ’byung gnas gsung rab rin po che’i mdzod. In The Collected Works of Bu-ston. Edited by Lokesh Chandra from the collections of Raghu Vira. 28 volumes. Zhol bka’ ’gyur par khang edition. New Delhi: International Academy of Indian Culture, 1965–71, 633–1056.

Changkya Rölpai Dorjé (lcang skya rol pa’i rdo rje). dam chos pad ma dkar po’i kha byang. In lcang skya rol pa’i rdo rje’i gsung ’bum, vol. 5 (ca), Dharamsala: Library of Tibetan Works and Archives, 2003, folios 525–532.

Pekar Zangpo (pad dkar bzang po). ’phags pa dam chos padma dkar po’i mdo. In mdo sde spyi’i rnam bzhag, Beijing: mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 2006, pp. 187–189.

Secondary Non-Tibetan Sources

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Dessein, Bart. “The Mahāsāṃghikas and the Origins of Mahāyāna Buddhism: Evidence Provided in the *Abhidharmamahāvibhāṣaśāstra.” The Eastern Buddhist 40, no. 1 (2009): 25–61.

Dharmachakra Translation Committee, trans. The Play in Full (Lalitavistara, Toh 95). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2013.

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Heirman, Ann. “Yijing’s View on the Bhikṣunīs’ Standard Robes.” Chung-Hwa Buddhist Journal 21 (2008): 145–158.

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‍—‍—‍—. “The Saddharmapuṇḍarīkasūtra at Gilgit: Manuscripts, Worshippers, and Artists.” Journal of Oriental Studies22 (2012): 52–67.

‍—‍—‍—. Bronzes of the Ancient Kingdom of Gilgit and Royal Patronage in Early North-Western India and Pakistan. Online lecture: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (2010).

Jamieson, R. C. “Sanskrit Lotus Sutra Manuscripts from Cambridge University Library (Add. 1682 and Add. 1683).” Journal of Oriental Studies 12, no. 6 (2002): 165–173.

Jeffus, Ryusho. Lotus Sutra Practice Guide: 35-Day Practice Outline. Charlotte, NC: Myosho-ji, 2012.

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‍—‍—‍—. “Some Features of the Language of the Saddharmapuṇḍarīkasūtra.” Indo-Iranian Journal 44 (2001): 207–230.

Kim, Young-ho. Tao-sheng’s Commentary on the Lotus Sūtra: A Study and Translation. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990.

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Glossary

Types of attestation for names and terms of the corresponding source language

Attested in source text

This term is attested in a manuscript used as a source for this translation.

Attested in other text

This term is attested in other manuscripts with a parallel or similar context.

Attested in dictionary

This term is attested in dictionaries matching Tibetan to the corresponding language.

Approximate attestation

The attestation of this name is approximate. It is based on other names where the relationship between the Tibetan and source language is attested in dictionaries or other manuscripts.

Reconstruction from Tibetan phonetic rendering

This term is a reconstruction based on the Tibetan phonetic rendering of the term.

Reconstruction from Tibetan semantic rendering

This term is a reconstruction based on the semantics of the Tibetan translation.

Source unspecified

This term has been supplied from an unspecified source, which most often is a widely trusted dictionary.

g.1

Ābhāsvara

’od gsal

འོད་གསལ།

ābhāsvara

g.2

Abhijñājñānābhibhū

mngon shes ye shes zil gnon

མངོན་ཤེས་ཡེ་ཤེས་ཟིལ་གནོན།

abhijñājñānābhibhū

g.3

Abhijñaprāpta

mngon par shes thob

མངོན་པར་ཤེས་ཐོབ།

abhijñaprāpta

g.10

accounts of miracles

rmad byung

རྨད་བྱུང་།

adbhuta

g.13

agarwood

a ga ru

ཨ་ག་རུ།

agaru

g.16

Ajita

ma pham pa

མ་ཕམ་པ།

ajita

The other name of Maitreya, the bodhisattva who became Śākyamuni’s regent and is prophesied to be the next buddha, the fifth buddha in the fortunate eon. In early Buddhism he appears as the human disciple Maitreya Tiṣya, sent to pay his respects by his teacher. The Buddha gives him the gift of a robe and prophesies he will be the next buddha, while his companion Ajita will be the next cakravartin. As a bodhisattva in the Mahāyāna he has both these names.

g.17

Ājñātakauṇḍinya

kun shes kauN+di n+ya

ཀུན་ཤེས་ཀཽཎྡི་ནྱ།

ājñātakauṇḍinya

g.20

Akṣayamati

blo gros mi zad pa

བློ་གྲོས་མི་ཟད་པ།

akṣayamati

g.22

Amitābha

snang ba mtha’ yas

སྣང་བ་མཐའ་ཡས།

amitābha

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

The buddha of the western buddhafield of Sukhāvatī, where fortunate beings are reborn to make further progress toward spiritual maturity. Amitābha made his great vows to create such a realm when he was a bodhisattva called Dharmākara. In the Pure Land Buddhist tradition, popular in East Asia, aspiring to be reborn in his buddha realm is the main emphasis; in other Mahāyāna traditions, too, it is a widespread practice. For a detailed description of the realm, see The Display of the Pure Land of Sukhāvatī, Toh 115. In some tantras that make reference to the five families he is the tathāgata associated with the lotus family.

Amitābha, “Infinite Light,” is also known in many Indian Buddhist works as Amitāyus, “Infinite Life.” In both East Asian and Tibetan Buddhist traditions he is often conflated with another buddha named “Infinite Life,” Aparimitāyus, or “Infinite Life and Wisdom,”Aparimitāyurjñāna, the shorter version of whose name has also been back-translated from Tibetan into Sanskrit as Amitāyus but who presides over a realm in the zenith. For details on the relation between these buddhas and their names, see The Aparimitāyurjñāna Sūtra (1) Toh 674, i.9.

g.23

Amitāyus

tshe dpag med

ཚེ་དཔག་མེད།

amitāyus

g.27

Ānanda

kun dga’ bo

ཀུན་དགའ་བོ།

ānanda

g.39

arhat

dgra bcom pa

དགྲ་བཅོམ་པ།

arhat

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

According to Buddhist tradition, one who is worthy of worship (pūjām arhati), or one who has conquered the enemies, the mental afflictions (kleśa-ari-hata-vat), and reached liberation from the cycle of rebirth and suffering. It is the fourth and highest of the four fruits attainable by śrāvakas. Also used as an epithet of the Buddha.

g.41

asaṃkhyeya

grangs med pa

གྲངས་མེད་པ།

asaṃkhyeya

The designation of a measure of time on the scale of eons, literally meaning “incalculable.” The number of years in such an eon differs in various sūtras that give a number. Also, twenty intermediate eons are said to be one incalculable eon, and four incalculable eons are one great eon. In that case those four incalculable eons represent the eons of the creation, presence, destruction, and absence of a world. Buddhas are often described as appearing in a second incalculable eon.

g.43

aspects of enlightenment

byang chub kyi yan lag

བྱང་ཆུབ་ཀྱི་ཡན་ལག

bodhyaṅga

g.44

asura

lha ma yin

ལྷ་མ་ཡིན།

asura

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

A type of nonhuman being whose precise status is subject to different views, but is included as one of the six classes of beings in the sixfold classification of realms of rebirth. In the Buddhist context, asuras are powerful beings said to be dominated by envy, ambition, and hostility. They are also known in the pre-Buddhist and pre-Vedic mythologies of India and Iran, and feature prominently in Vedic and post-Vedic Brahmanical mythology, as well as in the Buddhist tradition. In these traditions, asuras are often described as being engaged in interminable conflict with the devas (gods).

g.47

Avabhāsaprāptā

snang ba thob pa

སྣང་བ་ཐོབ་པ།

avabhāsaprāptā

g.49

Avalokiteśvara

spyan ras gzigs dbang phyug

སྤྱན་རས་གཟིགས་དབང་ཕྱུག

avalokiteśvara

First appeared as a bodhisattva beside Amitābha in the Sukhāvati Sūtra. The name has been variously interpreted. In “The lord of Avalokita,” Avalokita has been interpreted as “seeing,” although, as a past passive participle, it is literally “lord of what has been seen.” One of the principal sūtras in the Mahāsāṃghika tradition was the Avalokita Sūtra, which has not been translated into Tibetan, in which the word is a synonym for enlightenment, as it is “that which has been seen” by the buddhas. In the early tantras, he was one of the lords of the three families, as the embodiment of the compassion of the buddhas. The Potalaka Mountain in southern India became important in southern Indian Buddhism as his residence in this world, but Potalaka does not yet feature in the Kāraṇḍavyūha Sūtra, which emphasized the premeninence of Avalokiteśvara above all buddhas and bodhisattvas and introduced the mantra oṁ maṇipadme hūṁ.

g.55

Bandé

ban de

བན་དེ།

bande

g.57

bay leaves

ta ma la’i ’dab ma

ཏ་མ་ལའི་འདབ་མ།

tamālapatra

g.59

beryl

bai dU rya

བཻ་དཱུ་རྱ།

vaiḍūrya

g.63

bhagavān

bcom ldan ’das

བཅོམ་ལྡན་འདས།

bhagavān

g.64

Bhaiṣajyarāja

sman gyi rgyal po

སྨན་གྱི་རྒྱལ་པོ།

bhaiṣajyarāja

g.68

bherī drum

rnga bo che

རྔ་བོ་ཆེ།

bherī

g.69

bhikṣu

dge slong

དགེ་སློང་།

bhikṣu

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

The term bhikṣu, often translated as “monk,” refers to the highest among the eight types of prātimokṣa vows that make one part of the Buddhist assembly. The Sanskrit term literally means “beggar” or “mendicant,” referring to the fact that Buddhist monks and nuns‍—like other ascetics of the time‍—subsisted on alms (bhikṣā) begged from the laity.

In the Tibetan tradition, which follows the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya, a monk follows 253 rules as part of his moral discipline. A nun (bhikṣuṇī; dge slong ma) follows 364 rules. A novice monk (śrāmaṇera; dge tshul) or nun (śrāmaṇerikā; dge tshul ma) follows thirty-six rules of moral discipline (although in other vinaya traditions novices typically follow only ten).

g.70

bhikṣuṇī

dge slong ma

དགེ་སློང་མ།

bhikṣuṇī

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

The term bhikṣuṇī, often translated as “nun,” refers to the highest among the eight types of prātimokṣa vows that make one part of the Buddhist assembly. The Sanskrit term bhikṣu (to which the female grammatical ending ṇī is added) literally means “beggar” or “mendicant,” referring to the fact that Buddhist nuns and monks‍—like other ascetics of the time‍—subsisted on alms (bhikṣā) begged from the laity. In the Tibetan tradition, which follows the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya, a bhikṣuṇī follows 364 rules and a bhikṣu follows 253 rules as part of their moral discipline.

For the first few years of the Buddha’s teachings in India, there was no ordination for women. It started at the persistent request and display of determination of Mahāprajāpatī, the Buddha’s stepmother and aunt, together with five hundred former wives of men of Kapilavastu, who had themselves become monks. Mahāprajāpatī is thus considered to be the founder of the nun’s order.

g.76

Bodhimaṇḍa

byang chub snying po

བྱང་ཆུབ་སྙིང་པོ།

bodhimaṇḍa

g.77

bodhisattva

byang chub sems dpa’

བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་དཔའ།

bodhisattva

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

A being who is dedicated to the cultivation and fulfilment of the altruistic intention to attain perfect buddhahood, traversing the ten bodhisattva levels (daśabhūmi, sa bcu). Bodhisattvas purposely opt to remain within cyclic existence in order to liberate all sentient beings, instead of simply seeking personal freedom from suffering. In terms of the view, they realize both the selflessness of persons and the selflessness of phenomena.

g.78

Bodhisattvayāna

byang chub sems dpa’i theg pa

བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་དཔའི་ཐེག་པ།

bodhisattvayāna

g.79

Brahmā

tshangs pa

ཚངས་པ།

brahmā

g.85

brother

tshe dang ldan pa

ཚེ་དང་ལྡན་པ།

āyuṣmat

g.86

buddha

sangs rgyas

སངས་རྒྱས།

buddha

g.87

Buddhayāna

sangs rgyas kyi theg pa

སངས་རྒྱས་ཀྱི་ཐེག་པ།

buddhayāna

g.90

cakravartin

’khor los sgyur ba

འཁོར་ལོས་སྒྱུར་བ།

cakravartin

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

An ideal monarch or emperor who, as the result of the merit accumulated in previous lifetimes, rules over a vast realm in accordance with the Dharma. Such a monarch is called a cakravartin because he bears a wheel (cakra) that rolls (vartate) across the earth, bringing all lands and kingdoms under his power. The cakravartin conquers his territory without causing harm, and his activity causes beings to enter the path of wholesome actions. According to Vasubandhu’s Abhidharmakośa, just as with the buddhas, only one cakravartin appears in a world system at any given time. They are likewise endowed with the thirty-two major marks of a great being (mahāpuruṣalakṣaṇa), but a cakravartin’s marks are outshined by those of a buddha. They possess seven precious objects: the wheel, the elephant, the horse, the wish-fulfilling gem, the queen, the general, and the minister. An illustrative passage about the cakravartin and his possessions can be found in The Play in Full (Toh 95), 3.3–3.13.

Vasubandhu lists four types of cakravartins: (1) the cakravartin with a golden wheel (suvarṇacakravartin) rules over four continents and is invited by lesser kings to be their ruler; (2) the cakravartin with a silver wheel (rūpyacakravartin) rules over three continents and his opponents submit to him as he approaches; (3) the cakravartin with a copper wheel (tāmracakravartin) rules over two continents and his opponents submit themselves after preparing for battle; and (4) the cakravartin with an iron wheel (ayaścakravartin) rules over one continent and his opponents submit themselves after brandishing weapons.

g.98

chrysoberyl

ke ke ru

ཀེ་ཀེ་རུ།

karketana

This stone is not a type of beryl in spite of its name. The Tibetan has adopted the Prakrit form of its name: ke ke ru. It is the third hardest gemstone. It comes in three main varieties: the eponymous yellow or green chrysoberyl; cat’s eye (cymophane), which is light green or yellow with a band of light, resembling a cat’s eye; and the third form, alexandrite, which can change color from red to green to yellow according to the light. All three kinds have been mined since ancient times, in Sri Lanka in particular.

g.99

coral tree

man dA ra ba

མན་དཱ་ར་བ།

māndārava

g.100

crystal

man shel

མན་ཤེལ།

śilā

g.102

ḍamaru

cang te’u

ཅང་ཏེའུ།

ḍamaru

g.103

defilements

zag pa

ཟག་པ།

āsrava

g.104

deodar cedar

thang shing

ཐང་ཤིང་།

devadāru

g.105

deva

ལྷ།

deva

g.113

Dharma

chos

ཆོས།

dharma

A term that predates Buddhism, Dharma/dharmas has a wide range of meanings and usages in Buddhist texts depending on context:

As Dharma, it is the teaching of Buddha Śākyamuni and other buddhas, preached by their followers, and transmitted in the form of scripture; or, alternatively, it means ultimate reality itself, the referent of the teaching and what is realized through it.

As dharmas, it is variously the different teachings given by Buddha Śākyamuni, other buddhas, and their followers; the trainings enjoined in those teachings; the positive qualities acquired through applying those trainings; mental phenomena in general; or phenomena in general or their characteristics. Often in Buddhist literature there is a play on the multiple interlinked senses of this term.

g.115

dharmabhāṇaka

chos smra ba

ཆོས་སྨྲ་བ།

dharmabhāṇaka

Someone who recites the Dharma teachings, either from a text or from memory. In early Buddhism, in particular before the teachings were written down and were transmitted solely orally, a section of the saṅgha would be bhāṇakas, who were the key factor in the preservation of the teachings. Various groups of bhāṇakas specialized in memorizing and reciting a certain set of sūtras or vinaya. Even when the teachings existed in writing, a reciter of Dharma teachings was of great importance within a society that was predominantly illiterate.

g.123

Dhṛtarāṣṭra

yul ’khor srung

ཡུལ་འཁོར་སྲུང་།

dhṛtarāṣṭra

g.125

dhyāna

bsam gtan

བསམ་གཏན།

dhyāna

g.129

elucidation

gtan la dbab pa

གཏན་ལ་དབབ་པ།

upadeśa

g.130

emerald

rdo’i snying po

རྡོའི་སྙིང་པོ།

aśmagarbha

g.131

enlightenment

byang chub

བྱང་ཆུབ།

bodhi

g.132

eon

bskal pa

བསྐལ་པ།

kalpa

g.134

extensive

shin tu rgyas pa

ཤིན་ཏུ་རྒྱས་པ།

vaipulya

g.136

fearlessness

mi ’jigs pa

མི་འཇིགས་པ།

vaiśāradya

g.143

gandharva

dri za

དྲི་ཟ།

gandharva

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

A class of generally benevolent nonhuman beings who inhabit the skies, sometimes said to inhabit fantastic cities in the clouds, and more specifically to dwell on the eastern slopes of Mount Meru, where they are ruled by the Great King Dhṛtarāṣṭra. They are most renowned as celestial musicians who serve the gods. In the Abhidharma, the term is also used to refer to the mental body assumed by sentient beings during the intermediate state between death and rebirth. Gandharvas are said to live on fragrances (gandha) in the desire realm, hence the Tibetan translation dri za, meaning “scent eater.”

g.145

garuḍa

nam mkha’ lding

ནམ་མཁའ་ལྡིང་།

garuḍa

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

In Indian mythology, the garuḍa is an eagle-like bird that is regarded as the king of all birds, normally depicted with a sharp, owl-like beak, often holding a snake, and with large and powerful wings. They are traditionally enemies of the nāgas. In the Vedas, they are said to have brought nectar from the heavens to earth. Garuḍa can also be used as a proper name for a king of such creatures.

g.155

higher knowledge

mngon par shes pa

མངོན་པར་ཤེས་པ།

abhijñā

g.156

Hīnayāna

theg pa dman pa

ཐེག་པ་དམན་པ།

hīnayāna

g.157

histories

de lta byung

དེ་ལྟ་བྱུང་།

itivṛttaka

g.160

Īśvara

dbang phyug

དབང་ཕྱུག

īśvara

g.161

Jaladharagarjitaghoṣasusvaranakṣatrarājasaṃkusumitābhijña

’brug sgra sbyangs snyan skar ma’i rgyal po me tog kun tu rgyas pa

འབྲུག་སྒྲ་སྦྱངས་སྙན་སྐར་མའི་རྒྱལ་པོ་མེ་ཏོག་ཀུན་ཏུ་རྒྱས་པ།

jaladharagarjitaghoṣasusvaranakṣatrarājasaṃkusumitābhijña

g.167

jina

rgyal ba

རྒྱལ་བ།

jina

g.174

Kamaladalavimalanakṣatrarājasaṃkusumitābhijña

pad ma’i ’dab ma dri ma med pa skar ma’i rgyal po me tog kun tu rgyas pa

པད་མའི་འདབ་མ་དྲི་མ་མེད་པ་སྐར་མའི་རྒྱལ་པོ་མེ་ཏོག་ཀུན་ཏུ་རྒྱས་པ།

kamaladalavimalanakṣatrarājasaṃkusumitābhijña

g.175

Kamalaśīla

ka ma la shI la

ཀ་མ་ལ་ཤཱི་ལ།

kamalaśīla

g.180

Kāśyapa

’od srung

འོད་སྲུང་།

kāśyapa

g.181

kātyāyana

kA tyA’i bu

ཀཱ་ཏྱཱའི་བུ།

kātyāyana

g.182

Kauṇḍinya

kauNDi nya

ཀཽཎཌི་ཉ།

kauṇḍinya

The court priest in the Buddha’s father’s kingdom, who predicted the Buddha’s enlightenment. He became one of the Buddha’s five companions in asceticism. They renounced him when he abandoned asceticism but after his enlightenment they became his pupils. Kauṇḍinya was the first to convert to being his pupil and was the first of his pupils to become an arhat. Also called “Kauṇḍinyagotra” and “Ājñātakauṇḍinya.”

g.183

Kauṇḍinyagotra

kauNDi nya rigs

ཀཽཎཌི་ཉ་རིགས།

kauṇḍinyagotra

g.186

kinnara

mi’am ci

མིའམ་ཅི།

kinnara
kiṃnara

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

A class of nonhuman beings that resemble humans to the degree that their very name‍—which means “is that human?”‍—suggests some confusion as to their divine status. Kinnaras are mythological beings found in both Buddhist and Brahmanical literature, where they are portrayed as creatures half human, half animal. They are often depicted as highly skilled celestial musicians.

g.187

kleśa

nyon mongs

ཉོན་མོངས།

kleśa

g.192

kumbhāṇḍa

grul bum

གྲུལ་བུམ།

kumbhāṇḍa

g.197

liberations

rnam par thar ba

རྣམ་པར་ཐར་བ།

vimokṣa

This can include any method for liberation. The most common list is of eight liberations: (1) form viewing form, the view of dependent origination and emptiness; (2) the formless viewing form, having seen internal emptiness, seeing the emptiness of external forms; (3) the view of the pleasant, seeing pleasant appearances as empty and contemplating the unpleasant; (4) seeing the emptiness of the formless meditation of infinite space; (5) seeing the emptiness of the formless meditation of infinite consciousness; (6) seeing the emptiness of the formless meditation of nothingness; (7) seeing the emptiness of the formless meditation of neither perception nor nonperception; (8) seeing the emptiness of the state of cessation.

g.200

lotsawa

lo tsA ba

ལོ་ཙཱ་བ།

g.201

lotus

pad ma

པད་མ།

padma

g.204

Magadha

ma ga dha

མ་ག་དྷ།

magadha

g.206

Mahābhijñājñānābhibhū

mngon par shes pa’i ye shes chen pos zil gyis gnon pa

མངོན་པར་ཤེས་པའི་ཡེ་ཤེས་ཆེན་པོས་ཟིལ་གྱིས་གནོན་པ།

mahābhijñājñānābhibhū

g.210

Mahākāśyapa

’od srung chen po

འོད་སྲུང་ཆེན་པོ།

mahākāśyapa

g.211

Mahākātyāyana

kA tyA’i bu chen po

ཀཱ་ཏྱཱའི་བུ་ཆེན་པོ།

mahākātyāyana

g.215

Mahāmaudgalyāyana

maud gal gyi bu chen po

མཽད་གལ་གྱི་བུ་ཆེན་པོ།

mahāmaudgalyāyana

g.220

Mahāpratibhāna

spobs pa chen po

སྤོབས་པ་ཆེན་པོ།

mahāpratibhāna

g.222

mahārāja

rgyal po chen po

རྒྱལ་པོ་ཆེན་པོ།

mahārāja

g.224

Mahārūpa

gzugs chen po

གཟུགས་ཆེན་པོ།

mahārūpa

g.226

Mahāsāṃghika

dge ’dun phal chen po’i sde

དགེ་འདུན་ཕལ་ཆེན་པོའི་སྡེ།

mahāsāṃghika

g.227

mahāsattva

sems dpa’ chen po

སེམས་དཔའ་ཆེན་པོ།

mahāsattva

g.228

mahāśrāvaka

nyan thos chen po

ཉན་ཐོས་ཆེན་པོ།

mahāśrāvaka

g.229

Mahāsthāmaprāpta

mthu chen thob

མཐུ་ཆེན་ཐོབ།

mahāsthāmaprāpta

g.232

Mahāvyūha

bkod pa chen po

བཀོད་པ་ཆེན་པོ།

mahāvyūha

g.233

Maheśvara

dbang phyug chen po
dbang phyug che

དབང་ཕྱུག་ཆེན་པོ།
དབང་ཕྱུག་ཆེ།

maheśvara

g.234

mahoraga

lto ’phye chen po

ལྟོ་འཕྱེ་ཆེན་པོ།

mahoraga

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

Literally “great serpents,” mahoragas are supernatural beings depicted as large, subterranean beings with human torsos and heads and the lower bodies of serpents. Their movements are said to cause earthquakes, and they make up a class of subterranean geomantic spirits whose movement through the seasons and months of the year is deemed significant for construction projects.

g.235

Maitreya

byams pa

བྱམས་པ།

maitreya

The bodhisattva who became Śākyamuni’s regent and is prophesied to be the next buddha, the fifth buddha in the fortunate eon. In early Buddhism he appears as the human disciple Maitreya Tiṣya, sent to pay his respects by his teacher. The Buddha gives him the gift of a robe and prophesies he will be the next Buddha, while his companion Ajita will be the next cakravartin. As a bodhisattva in the Mahāyāna, he has both these names.

g.240

Mañjughoṣa

’jam dbyangs

འཇམ་དབྱངས།

mañjughoṣa

g.241

Mañjuśrī

’jam dpal

འཇམ་དཔལ།

mañjuśrī

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

Mañjuśrī is one of the “eight close sons of the Buddha” and a bodhisattva who embodies wisdom. He is a major figure in the Mahāyāna sūtras, appearing often as an interlocutor of the Buddha. In his most well-known iconographic form, he is portrayed bearing the sword of wisdom in his right hand and a volume of the Prajñāpāramitāsūtra in his left. To his name, Mañjuśrī, meaning “Gentle and Glorious One,” is often added the epithet Kumārabhūta, “having a youthful form.” He is also called Mañjughoṣa, Mañjusvara, and Pañcaśikha.

In this text:

Also called here “Mañjusvara” and “Mañjuśrī Kumārabhūta.”

g.242

Mañjuśrī Kumārabhūta

’jam dpal gzhon nur gyur pa

འཇམ་དཔལ་གཞོན་ནུར་གྱུར་པ།

mañjuśrīkumārabhūta

g.243

Mañjusvara

’jam dbyangs

འཇམ་དབྱངས།

mañjusvara

g.249

Māra

bdud

བདུད།

māra

(1) A deva, sometimes said to be the principal deity in Paranirmitavaśavartin, the highest paradise in the desire realm; also one of the names of the god of desire, Kāma in the Vedic tradition. He is portrayed as attempting to prevent the Buddha’s enlightenment. In early soteriological religions, the principal deity in saṃsāra, such as Indra, would attempt to prevent anyone’s realization that would lead to such a liberation.

(2) The devas ruled over by Māra, and assisting his attempts to prevent the Buddha’s enlightenment; they do not wish any being to escape from saṃsāra. More generally, they are symbolic of the defects within a person that prevent enlightenment. These four personifications are: Devaputra-māra (lha’i bu’i bdud), the Divine Māra, which is the distraction of pleasures; Mṛtyumāra (’chi bdag gi bdud), the Māra of Death; Skandhamāra (phung po’i bdud), the Māra of the Aggregates, which is the body; and Kleśamāra (nyon mongs pa’i bdud), the Māra of the Afflictions.

g.251

marut

ལྷ།

marut

g.258

Meru

lhun po

ལྷུན་པོ།

meru

g.263

mṛdaṅga drum

rdza rnga

རྫ་རྔ།

mṛdaṅga

g.265

muni

thub pa

ཐུབ་པ།

muni

g.266

my previous lifetimes

skyes rabs

སྐྱེས་རབས།

jātaka

g.268

nāga

ཀླུ།

nāga

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

A class of nonhuman beings who live in subterranean aquatic environments, where they guard wealth and sometimes also teachings. Nāgas are associated with serpents and have a snakelike appearance. In Buddhist art and in written accounts, they are regularly portrayed as half human and half snake, and they are also said to have the ability to change into human form. Some nāgas are Dharma protectors, but they can also bring retribution if they are disturbed. They may likewise fight one another, wage war, and destroy the lands of others by causing lightning, hail, and flooding.

g.271

Nakṣatrarājasaṃkusumitābhijña

skar ma’i rgyal po me tog kun tu rgyas pa mngon par shes pa

སྐར་མའི་རྒྱལ་པོ་མེ་ཏོག་ཀུན་ཏུ་རྒྱས་པ་མངོན་པར་ཤེས་པ།

nakṣatrarājasaṃkusumitābhijña

g.273

Nanam Yeshé Dé

sna nam ye shes sde

སྣ་ནམ་ཡེ་ཤེས་སྡེ།

g.280

nirvāṇa

mya ngan las ’das pa

མྱ་ངན་ལས་འདས་པ།

nirvāṇa

g.291

parinirvāṇa

yongs su mya ngan las ’da’

ཡོངས་སུ་མྱ་ངན་ལས་འདའ།

parinirvāṇa

g.293

perfectly enlightened buddha

yang dag par rdzogs pa’i sangs rgyas

ཡང་དག་པར་རྫོགས་པའི་སངས་རྒྱས།

samyaksambuddha

g.294

phenomena

chos

ཆོས།

dharma

g.298

powers

dbang

དབང་།

indriya

g.300

Prabhūtaratna

rin chen mang po

རིན་ཆེན་མང་པོ།

prabhūtaratna

g.304

pratyekabuddha

rang sangs rgyas

རང་སངས་རྒྱས།

pratyekabuddha

g.305

Pratyekabuddhayāna

rang sangs rgyas kyi theg pa

རང་སངས་རྒྱས་ཀྱི་ཐེག་པ།

pratyekabuddhayāna

g.309

Priyadarśana

mthong na dga’ ba

མཐོང་ན་དགའ་བ།

priyadarśana

g.310

prologue

gleng gzhi

གླེང་གཞི།

nidāna

g.311

prose put into verse

dbyangs bsnyad

དབྱངས་བསྙད།

geya

g.312

Pūrṇa Maitrāyaṇīputra

byams ma’i bu gang po

བྱམས་མའི་བུ་གང་པོ།

pūrṇa maitrāyaṇīputra

g.317

Rāhula

sgra gcan

སྒྲ་གཅན།

rāhula

g.318

Rājagṛha

rgyal po’i khab

རྒྱལ་པོའི་ཁབ།

rājagṛha

g.319

rākṣasa

srin po

སྲིན་པོ།

rākṣasa

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

A class of nonhuman beings that are often, but certainly not always, considered demonic in the Buddhist tradition. They are often depicted as flesh-eating monsters who haunt frightening places and are ugly and evil-natured with a yearning for human flesh, and who additionally have miraculous powers, such as being able to change their appearance.

g.321

Ralpachen

ral pa can

རལ་པ་ཅན།

g.322

Raśmiprabhāsa

’od zer rab tu snang ba

འོད་ཟེར་རབ་ཏུ་སྣང་བ།

raśmiprabhāsa

g.339

rishi

drang srong

དྲང་སྲོང་།

ṛṣi

g.346

Sahā

mi mjed

མི་མཇེད།

sahā

Indian Buddhist name for either the four-continent sun-and-moon world system in which Buddha Śākyamuni appeared, or a universe of a thousand million such worlds. The White Lotus of Compassion Sutra describes it as a world of ordinary beings in which desire, and so on, are “powerful” (Sanskrit: sahas), and hence the name. The Tibetan translation mi mjed (literally “no suffering”) is usually defined as meaning “endurance,” because beings there are able to endure suffering.

g.347

Śakra

brgya byin

བརྒྱ་བྱིན།

śakra

More commonly known in the West as Indra, the deity that is called “lord of the devas,” dwells on the summit of Mount Sumeru, and wields the thunderbolt. The Tibetan translation is based on an etymology that śakra is an abbreviation of śata-kratu: one who has performed a hundred sacrifices. The highest Vedic sacrifice was the horse sacrifice, and there is a tradition that he became the lord of the gods through performing them.

g.349

Śākyamuni

shAkya thub pa

ཤཱཀྱ་ཐུབ་པ།

śākyamuni

g.353

samādhi

ting nge ’dzin

ཏིང་ངེ་འཛིན།

samādhi

g.354

Samantabhadra

kun tu bzang po

ཀུན་ཏུ་བཟང་པོ།

samantabhadra

g.358

samāpatti

snyoms par ’jug pa

སྙོམས་པར་འཇུག་པ།

samāpatti

One of the synonyms for the meditative state, in tems of both the state itself and the various meditative states that serve as attainments along the path. The Tibetan translation interprets it as sama-āpatti, which brings in the idea of “equal,” or “level;” however, it can also be parsed as sam-āpatti, in which case it would have the sense of “concentration,” or “absorption,” much like “samādhi,” but with the added sense of “completion.”

g.359

Saṃbhavā

’byung ba

འབྱུང་བ།

saṃbhavā

g.360

saṃsāra

’khor ba

འཁོར་བ།

saṃsāra

g.361

sandalwood

tsan dan

ཙན་དན།

candana

g.362

saṅgha

dge ’dun

དགེ་འདུན།

saṅgha

g.363

Śāntideva

zhi ba’i lha

ཞི་བའི་ལྷ།

śāntideva

g.365

Śāriputra

shA ri’i bu

ཤཱ་རིའི་བུ།

śāriputra

g.366

Śārisuta

shA ri’i bu

ཤཱ་རིའི་བུ།

śārisuta

g.375

Satatasamitābhiyukta

rtag par rgyun du brtson

རྟག་པར་རྒྱུན་དུ་བརྩོན།

satatasamitābhiyukta

g.376

seven precious materials

rin chen sna bdun

རིན་ཆེན་སྣ་བདུན།

saptaratna

In this sūtra they are specified to be gold, silver, beryl, white coral, emerald, red pearl, and chrysoberyl. When associated with the seven heavenly bodies, and therefore the seven days of the week, they are the seven jewels: ruby for the sun; moonstone or pearl for the moon; coral for Mars; emerald for Mercury; yellow sapphire for Jupiter; diamond for Venus; and blue sapphire for Saturn. An alternative list is: gold, silver, beryl, crystal, coral, emerald, and white coral.

g.383

sixty-two fabricated views

lta ba drug cu rtsa gnyis

ལྟ་བ་དྲུག་ཅུ་རྩ་གཉིས།

dvāṣaṣti dṛṣṭīkṛta

g.388

śrāvaka

nyan thos

ཉན་ཐོས།

śrāvaka

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

The Sanskrit term śrāvaka, and the Tibetan nyan thos, both derived from the verb “to hear,” are usually defined as “those who hear the teaching from the Buddha and make it heard to others.” Primarily this refers to those disciples of the Buddha who aspire to attain the state of an arhat seeking their own liberation and nirvāṇa. They are the practitioners of the first turning of the wheel of the Dharma on the four noble truths, who realize the suffering inherent in saṃsāra and focus on understanding that there is no independent self. By conquering afflicted mental states (kleśa), they liberate themselves, attaining first the stage of stream enterers at the path of seeing, followed by the stage of once-returners who will be reborn only one more time, and then the stage of non-returners who will no longer be reborn into the desire realm. The final goal is to become an arhat. These four stages are also known as the “four results of spiritual practice.”

g.389

śrāvakayāna

nyan thos kyi theg pa

ཉན་ཐོས་ཀྱི་ཐེག་པ།

śrāvakayāna

g.392

sthavira

gnas brtan

གནས་བརྟན།

sthavira

g.394

strengths

stobs

སྟོབས།

bala

The strengths are enumerated as five or ten. As five, they are a stronger form of the five powers: faith, mindfulness, diligence, samādhi, and wisdom. As ten, they are the strenths of knowing what is proper and improper, knowing the maturation of karma, knowing the variety of beings’ aspirations, knowing the variety of their inclinations, knowing the variety of their capacities, knowing everywhere each path leads, knowing the dhyānas, liberations, samāpattis, samādhis and so forth, being able to recall previous states of being, and knowing the details of death and rebirth.

g.395

stūpa

mchod rten

མཆོད་རྟེན།

stūpa

g.396

Śubhavyūha

dge ba bkod pa

དགེ་བ་བཀོད་པ།

śubhavyūha

g.397

Subhūti

rab ’byor

རབ་འབྱོར།

subhūti

g.401

sugata

bde bar gshegs pa

བདེ་བར་གཤེགས་པ།

sugata

g.403

Sukhāvatī

bde ba can

བདེ་བ་ཅན།

sukhāvatī

g.405

Sumeru

ri rab

རི་རབ།

sumeru

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

According to ancient Buddhist cosmology, this is the great mountain forming the axis of the universe. At its summit is Sudarśana, home of Śakra and his thirty-two gods, and on its flanks live the asuras. The mount has four sides facing the cardinal directions, each of which is made of a different precious stone. Surrounding it are several mountain ranges and the great ocean where the four principal island continents lie: in the south, Jambudvīpa (our world); in the west, Godānīya; in the north, Uttarakuru; and in the east, Pūrvavideha. Above it are the abodes of the desire realm gods. It is variously referred to as Meru, Mount Meru, Sumeru, and Mount Sumeru.

g.408

Surendrabodhi

su ren dra bo dhi

སུ་རེན་དྲ་བོ་དྷི།

surendrabodhi

g.413

sūtra

མདོ།

sūtra

Literally meaning “a thread,” this was an ancient term for teachings that were memorized and orally transmitted in an essential form. Therefore it can mean “pithy statements,” “rules,” and “aphorisms.” In Buddhism it refers to the Buddha’s teachings, whatever their length, and in terms of the three divisions of the Buddha’s teachings, it is the category of teachings other than those on the vinaya and abhidharma. It is also used as a category to contrast with the tantra teachings, though a number of important tantras have sūtra in their title. Another very specific meaning is when it is classed as one of the nine or twelve aspects of the Dharma. In that context sūtra means “a teaching given in prose,” and as such is one aspect of what is generally called a sūtra.

g.421

thirty-two signs

sum cu rtsa gnyis mtshan
mtshan

སུམ་ཅུ་རྩ་གཉིས་མཚན།
མཚན།

dvātriṃśatīlakṣaṇa
lakṣaṇa

g.425

Tiṣya

skar rgyal

སྐར་རྒྱལ།

tiṣya

g.426

toraṇa

rta babs

རྟ་བབས།

toraṇa

g.428

tranquility

zhi gnas

ཞི་གནས།

śamatha

g.429

Trāyastriṃśa

sum cu rtsa gsum pa

སུམ་ཅུ་རྩ་གསུམ་པ།

trāyastriṃśa

g.432

true nature

de bzhin nyid

དེ་བཞིན་ཉིད།

tathātva

g.434

unique qualities of a buddha

sangs rgyas kyi chos ma ’dres pa

སངས་རྒྱས་ཀྱི་ཆོས་མ་འདྲེས་པ།

āveṇikabuddhadharma

They are as follows: (1) he never makes a mistake; (2) he is never boisterous; (3) he never forgets; (4) his concentration never falters; (5) he has no notion of distinctness; (6) his equanimity is not due to lack of consideration; (7) his motivation never falters; (8) his endeavor never fails; (9) his mindfulness never falters; (10) he never abandons his concentration; (11) his wisdom (prajñā) never decreases; (12) his liberation never fails; (13) all his physical actions are preceded and followed by wisdom (ye shes); (14) all his verbal actions are preceded and followed by wisdom (ye shes); (15) all his mental actions are preceded and followed by wisdom (ye shes); (16) his wisdom (ye shes) and vision perceive the past without any attachment or hindrance; (17) his wisdom (ye shes) and vision perceive the future without any attachment or hindrance; and (18) his wisdom and vision perceive the present without any attachment or hindrance.

g.435

upādhyāya

mkhan po

མཁན་པོ།

upādhyāya

g.438

upāsaka

dge bsnyen

དགེ་བསྙེན།

upāsaka

g.439

upāsikā

dge bsnyen ma

དགེ་བསྙེན་མ།

upāsikā

g.441

ūrṇā hair

mdzod spu

མཛོད་སྤུ།

ūrṇākośa

g.443

uṣṇīṣa

gtsug tor

གཙུག་ཏོར།

uṣṇīṣa

g.448

Vairocanaraśmipratimaṇḍitā

rnam par snang ba’i ’od zer gyis brgyan pa

རྣམ་པར་སྣང་བའི་འོད་ཟེར་གྱིས་བརྒྱན་པ།

vairocanaraśmipratimaṇḍitā

g.450

Vaiśravaṇa

rnam thos kyi bu
mchog gi gzugs

རྣམ་ཐོས་ཀྱི་བུ།
མཆོག་གི་གཟུགས།

vaiśravaṇa

g.452

Vajrapāṇi

phyag na rdo rje

ཕྱག་ན་རྡོ་རྗེ།

vajrapāṇi

g.455

Vārāṇasī

bA rA na sI

བཱ་རཱ་ན་སཱི།

vārāṇasī

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

Also known as Benares, one of the oldest cities of northeast India on the banks of the Ganges, in modern-day Uttar Pradesh. It was once the capital of the ancient kingdom of Kāśi, and in the Buddha’s time it had been absorbed into the kingdom of Kośala. It was an important religious center, as well as a major city, even during the time of the Buddha. The name may derive from being where the Varuna and Assi rivers flow into the Ganges. It was on the outskirts of Vārāṇasī that the Buddha first taught the Dharma, in the location known as Deer Park (Mṛgadāva). For numerous episodes set in Vārāṇasī, including its kings, see The Hundred Deeds, Toh 340.

g.462

Venerable

btsun pa

བཙུན་པ།

bhadanta

g.463

verse

tshigs su bcad pa

ཚིགས་སུ་བཅད་པ།

gāthā

g.478

Virūḍhaka

’phags skyes po

འཕགས་སྐྱེས་པོ།

virūḍhaka

g.479

Virūpākṣa

mig mi bzang

མིག་མི་བཟང་།

virūpākṣa

g.484

Vulture Peak

rgod kyi phung po

རྒོད་ཀྱི་ཕུང་པོ།

gṛdhrakūṭa

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

The Gṛdhrakūṭa, literally Vulture Peak, was a hill located in the kingdom of Magadha, in the vicinity of the ancient city of Rājagṛha (modern-day Rajgir, in the state of Bihar, India), where the Buddha bestowed many sūtras, especially the Great Vehicle teachings, such as the Prajñāpāramitā sūtras. It continues to be a sacred pilgrimage site for Buddhists to this day.

g.486

white coral

spug

སྤུག

musalagalva
musāragalva
musāgalva

White coral is fossilized coral. It appears in one version of the list of seven precious materials. The Tibetan tradition describes it as being formed from ice over a long period of time. It is coral that has undergone transformation under millions of years of underwater pressure. It can also refer to tridacna (Tridacnidae) shell, which is also presently referred to by the name musaragalva. Attempts to identify musalagalva have included sapphire, cat’s eye, red coral, conch, and amber.

g.489

world realm

’jig rten gyi khams

འཇིག་རྟེན་གྱི་ཁམས།

lokadhātu

g.490

yakṣa

gnod sbyin

གནོད་སྦྱིན།

yakṣa

g.491

yāna

theg pa

ཐེག་པ།

yāna

g.494

Yeshé Dé

ye shes sde

ཡེ་ཤེས་སྡེ།

g.497

yojana

dpag tshad

དཔག་ཚད།

yojana

The White Lotus of the Good Dharma Skill in Methods

Toh 113

Imprint

Text Body

The White Lotus of the Good Dharma
Skill in Methods