The Inquiry of Lokadhara
Chapter Twelve: The Entrustment
Toh 174
Degé Kangyur, vol. 60 (mdo sde, ma), folios 7.b–78.b
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Translated by the Dharmachakra Translation Committee
under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.
First published 2020
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Table of Contents
Summary
In The Inquiry of Lokadhara, the bodhisattva Lokadhara asks the Buddha to explain the proper way for bodhisattvas to discern the characteristics of phenomena and employ that knowledge to attain awakening. In reply, the Buddha teaches at length how to understand the lack of inherent existence of phenomena. As part of the teaching, the Buddha explains in detail the nonexistence of the aggregates, the elements, the sense sources, dependently originated phenomena, the four applications of mindfulness, the five powers, the eightfold path of the noble ones, and mundane and transcendent phenomena, as well as conditioned and unconditioned phenomena.
Acknowledgements
The sūtra was translated by the Dharmachakra Translation Committee under the guidance of Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche. The translation from the Tibetan was produced by Timothy Hinkle. Andreas Doctor checked the translation against the Tibetan, edited the text, and wrote the introduction. James Gentry subsequently compared the translation against Kumārajīva’s Chinese translation and made further edits.
The translation was completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.
Text Body
The Inquiry of Lokadhara
Chapter Twelve: The Entrustment
The bodhisattva great being Lokadhara then requested the Blessed One, “Blessed One, please consecrate this discourse to protect it and bring benefit and happiness to bodhisattva great beings. If bodhisattva great beings hear this discourse in the future, their minds will become pure, joyful, and happy. They will then give rise to diligence in order to accomplish these teachings.”
Then, as the Blessed One consecrated this discourse, he used his miraculous powers to fill the worlds of the great trichiliocosm with miraculous and incredible scents and fragrances. Beings gazed upon one another with a loving attitude.
Once the Blessed One had consecrated it, he said to Lokadhara, “Lokadhara, my consecration of this discourse on the Dharma seal serves the purpose of dispelling all doubts. Lokadhara, anyone who carries, retains, reads, or recites this discourse will soon gain omniscient wisdom. I prophesy that such beings will swiftly perfect omniscient wisdom. Lokadhara, any bodhisattva great being who carries, retains, reads, recites, contemplates, or teaches and explains this discourse on the Dharma seal fully to others will before long gain skill with regard to the five aggregates, the eighteen elements, the twelve sense sources, the twelve links of dependent origination, the four applications of mindfulness, the four correct exertions, the four foundations of miracles, the five powers, [F.78.a] the five strengths, the seven aspects of awakening, the eightfold path of the noble ones, the phenomena of the world and transcendence, and conditioned and unconditioned phenomena. Furthermore, they will swiftly gain knowledge of the true characteristics of phenomena, skill in discerning the characteristics of phenomena, the power of mindfulness, insight that is skilled in discerning phenomena, unbroken mindfulness upon exchanging their bodies, and so forth, up to swiftly gaining unsurpassed and perfect awakening. Lokadhara, in times to come, this discourse will illuminate the vast Dharma for many beings and, due to the light of wisdom, become the cause and condition for their merit. Furthermore, it will perfect the bodhisattvas’ accumulation of unsurpassed and perfect awakening. Lokadhara, in the future, no māra or karmic obscuration will be able to obstruct any person who meets with this discourse or any of the other profound discourses containing the perfections that are included in the Bodhisattva Collection. Lokadhara, even if such people have not gained the acceptance that phenomena are unborn, I prophesy that they will gain the acceptance that phenomena are unborn following the second or third buddha that they meet. If they have gained the acceptance that phenomena are unborn, they will swiftly gain dominion over all phenomena, the purification of their buddha realm, an immeasurable saṅgha of hearers, and an assembly of bodhisattvas. Lokadhara, I have taught this Dharma-seal discourse in order to dispel the doubts of all beings in the future.
“Lokadhara, when bodhisattva great beings [F.78.b] see the four beneficial factors related to protecting and retaining this discourse and others, they will pledge to do so in the future. What are these four? Bodhisattvas consider that (1) they will swiftly gain immeasurable and unfathomable virtues, (2) sentient beings will create great roots of virtue and retain and protect the genuine Dharma of the buddhas,78 (3) the Dharma collections of all the buddhas will be retained, and (4) they will be praised and honored by limitless buddhas.
“Lokadhara, you and other bodhisattva great beings must teach this collection of the Jewel of the Dharma, which I accomplished over hundreds of thousands of incalculable eons, extensively to gods and humans.”
Then Bhadrapāla and others bowed their heads to the Blessed One’s feet and said, “To the best of our ability, and with the Blessed One’s blessing, we promise to teach and explain this Jewel of the Dharma fully in the future.”
When this Dharma-seal discourse was taught, a boundless, limitless, and countless number of bodhisattvas with just one life remaining effortlessly accomplished roots of virtue. Countless hundreds of thousands of beings developed the mind directed toward unsurpassed and perfect awakening and were prophesied doubtlessly to achieve unsurpassed and perfect awakening. When the Blessed One had spoken, all the bodhisattvas such as Lokadhara and Bhadrapāla, as well as the fourfold assembly, and all gods, humans, and asuras rejoiced in what the Blessed One had taught.
This was the twelfth chapter: “Entrustment.”
This completes the Noble Sūtra “The Inquiry of Lokadhara.”
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