The Buddha’s Collected Teachings Repudiating Those Who Violate the Discipline
Honoring, Respecting, Revering, Worshiping,
and Pleasing the Thus-Gone Ones
Toh 220
Degé Kangyur, vol. 63 (mdo sde, dza), folios 1.b–77.b
- Dharmaśrīprabha
- Palgyi Lhünpo
Imprint
Translated by the Dharmachakra Translation Committee
under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha
First published 2023
Current version v 1.4.8 (2024)
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Table of Contents
Summary
When Śāriputra voices amazement at how the Buddha uses words to point out the inexpressible ways in which nothing has true existence, the Buddha responds with an uncompromising teaching on how the lack of true existence and the absence of a self are indeed not simply philosophical views but the very cornerstone of the Dharma. To have understood, realized, and applied them fully is the main quality by which someone may be considered a member of the saṅgha and authorized to teach others and to receive offerings. Those who persist in perceiving anything—even elements of the path and its results—as having any kind of true existence are committing the most serious of all violations of discipline (śīla), and since they fail to follow the Buddha’s core teaching in this way they should not even be considered his followers. The Buddha’s dialogue with Śāriputra continues on the consequences of monks’ violating their discipline more broadly, and he gives several prophecies about the future decline of the Dharma that will be caused by the misbehavior of such monks.
Acknowledgements
An initial translation by Nika Jovic for the Dharmachakra Translation Committee was completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha. Andreas Doctor, Adam Krug, and John Canti revised and edited the translation and the introduction, and Dion Blundell copyedited the text. Martina Cotter was in charge of the digital publication process.
The generous sponsorship of Zhou Tian Yu, Chen Yi Qin, and LZ which helped make the work on this translation possible, is most gratefully acknowledged.
Text Body
The Buddha’s Collected Teachings Repudiating Those Who Violate the Discipline
Honoring, Respecting, Revering, Worshiping, and Pleasing the Thus-Gone Ones
“Śāriputra, I remember times in the past when relying on this unsurpassed and perfect awakening had led me to become a universal monarch. I honored, respected, revered, and worshiped three hundred million buddhas who were all called Śākyamuni, as well as their assemblies of hearers, by offering them robes, alms, sleeping places, medicine, and other necessities. After pleasing them, I practiced with the sole aim of achieving unsurpassed and perfect awakening. Still, those blessed buddhas did not prophesy about me, saying, ‘In the future, you will become a thus-gone, worthy, perfect buddha.’ Why is that? Because I entertained notions related to apprehending and clung to the view of a self.
“Śāriputra, I also remember those times in the past when I was a universal monarch and eight thousand buddhas, all called Dīpaṃkara, appeared in the world. I honored, respected, revered, and worshiped those blessed buddhas and their assemblies of hearers by offering them robes, alms, sleeping places, medicine, and other necessities. After pleasing them, I practiced with the aim of achieving unsurpassed and perfect awakening. Still, those blessed buddhas did not prophesy about me, saying, ‘In the future, you will become a thus-gone, worthy, perfect buddha.’ [F.55.a] Why is that? Because I entertained notions related to apprehending and clung to the view of a self.
“Śāriputra, I also remember when I was a universal monarch relying on unsurpassed awakening and I honored six thousand buddhas, all called Pradīpta, […]—everything mentioned above also applies here.
“Śāriputra, I also remember when I was a universal monarch and I honored thirty million buddhas, all called Tiṣya, […].
“Śāriputra, I also remember when I was a universal monarch and sixty million buddhas, all called Sālarāja, appeared in the world during one eon. Śāriputra, that eon was called Exceedingly Noble. Śāriputra, I remember that I shaved my head and facial hair, put on the saffron robes, and renounced my household out of faith to go forth under those sixty million buddhas. I relied on this unsurpassed and perfect awakening […] yet those blessed buddhas did not prophesy about me […] because I clung to the view of a self and entertained notions related to apprehending.
“Śāriputra I also remember when I was a universal monarch and I honored five million buddhas, all called Elevated by Lotuses, […].
“Śāriputra, I also remember when I was a universal monarch and I honored fifty million buddhas, all called Pradīpta, […]. [F.55.b]
“Śāriputra, I also remember when I was a universal monarch and I honored nine hundred million buddhas, all called Kauṇḍinyagotra, […].
“Śāriputra, I also remember when I was a universal monarch and I honored and pleased nine thousand buddhas, all called Kāśyapa, and their assemblies of hearers, in order to make them happy in any way by offering robes [...] and all other necessities. Still, those blessed buddhas did not prophesy about me, saying, ‘In the future, you will become a thus-gone, worthy, perfect buddha,’ because I did not understand the inherent characteristic of phenomena, and I entertained heretical views of apprehending and clung to the view of a self.
“Śāriputra, I also remember when the world was empty of blessed buddhas for ten thousand eons, and when only pratyekabuddhas appeared in the world for five hundred eons.
“Śāriputra, I also remember that, for as long as I lived, I honored and pleased nine million pratyekabuddhas by offering them robes, alms, […].
“Śāriputra, for five hundred eons, I honored and pleased eight hundred forty billion pratyekabuddhas, […].
“Śāriputra, after those five hundred eons came to an end, and after those pratyekabuddhas had appeared in the world, I passed away and transmigrated from the human realm, and I was reborn in the abodes of Brahmā, where I became the Great Brahmā. Śāriputra, in this way, I continued to live as Great Brahmā for five hundred eons. Śāriputra, after those five hundred eons had passed, I again obtained a kingdom in Jambudvīpa in which I was born with the great fortune of great kings and gods. [F.56.a] After that, I became the sole ruler of the gods of the Heaven of the Thirty-Three. Śāriputra, in this way, I was then reborn in Jambudvīpa for five hundred eons, and then for five hundred eons as the Great Brahmā in the abodes of Brahmā. Śāriputra, for nine hundred thousand eons, I was then born exclusively among humans. Śāriputra, for nine hundred thousand eons, pratyekabuddhas appeared in the world, but buddhas did not. Śāriputra, even when the majority of sentient beings had gone to the lower realms, I was reborn among humans for nine hundred thousand eons. When this world was destroyed, I was then born among the gods of the Luminous Heaven. Then, when this world came into being, I was born among the gods of the desire realm, where I became the ruler of the great divine abodes of the desire realm. Śāriputra, after ten thousand eons, the thus-gone, worthy, perfect buddha named Saṃgupta appeared in the world. After I died and transmigrated from the abodes of Brahmā, I was reborn in Jambudvīpa, where I became a universal monarch named Sudarśana. At that time, the lifespan of humans was ninety thousand years. [B6]
“For as long as I lived, I continuously honored and pleased the blessed one Saṃgupta and the ninety trillion monks of his saṅgha in order to make them happy, by offering robes and all the other kinds of pleasing articles. […] Still, that blessed buddha did not prophesy about me, […] because I did not understand the inherent characteristic of phenomena, I clung to the view of a self, and I entertained heretical views of apprehending.
“Śāriputra, at the end of that eon, I was a universal monarch when a thousand buddhas with different names appeared. [F.56.b] I continuously honored, respected, worshiped, and revered them and their saṅghas of hearers by offering them robes, alms, sleeping places, medicine, and other necessities, in order to make them happy. After pleasing them, I practiced with the aim of achieving unsurpassed and perfect awakening. Still, those blessed buddhas did not prophesy about me, saying, ‘In the future, you will become a thus-gone, worthy, perfect buddha.’ Why is that? Because I did not understand the inherent characteristic of phenomena, I clung to the view of a self, and I clung to views of apprehending.
“Śāriputra, I also remember that, for seven hundred incalculable eons a full thousand buddhas called Saluted by Jambu appeared in the world. […] I also honored them. For a hundred uncountable eons, sixty-two thousand buddhas, all called Sarvārthadarśin, appeared in the world. […] I also honored them, [but received no prophecy] because I entertained notions related to apprehending. For a hundred uncountable eons, eighty-four thousand buddhas, all called Indradhvaja, appeared in the world. […] I also honored them, [but received no prophecy] because I entertained notions related to apprehending. Śāriputra, I also remember that I honored five hundred buddhas, all called Āditya, [but received no prophecy] because I entertained notions related to apprehending.
“Śāriputra, I also remember that, when I was a universal monarch, I honored, respected, revered, and worshiped sixty-two thousand blessed buddhas, all called Śamitā, and their assemblies of hearers, by offering them robes, alms, sleeping places, medicine, and other necessities. [F.57.a] After pleasing them, I practiced with the aim of achieving unsurpassed and perfect awakening. Still, those blessed buddhas did not prophesy about me, […] because I entertained notions related to apprehending and clung to the view of a self.
“Śāriputra, the blessed Dīpaṃkara eventually gave me a prophecy. Why is that? Because, Śāriputra, as soon as I saw the blessed Dīpaṃkara, I attained acceptance of the unborn nature of phenomena. At that point, the blessed Dīpaṃkara was the first to prophesy about me, saying, ‘In the future, you will become the thus-gone, worthy, perfect buddha named Śākyamuni.’
“Śāriputra, I also remember that one hundred twenty million kings, all called Māndhāta, appeared in the world. They were all universal monarchs. Śāriputra, I also remember that three hundred twenty billion kings, all called Mahāpraṇāda, appeared in the world. They were all universal monarchs. Śāriputra, I also remember that four hundred million kings, all called Mahādeva, appeared in the world. They were all universal monarchs. Śāriputra, I also remember that eight hundred forty million kings, all called Brahmadatta, appeared in the world. They were all universal monarchs. Śāriputra, I also remember that ten million kings, all called Ikṣvāku, appeared in the world. They were all universal monarchs. Śāriputra, I also remember that, in the past, ten thousand kings, all called Pradīpta, appeared in the world. They were all universal monarchs. [F.57.b] Śāriputra, I also remember that two hundred million kings, all called Sundara, appeared in the world. They were all universal monarchs.
“Śāriputra, in this way the Thus-Gone One has told the monk Ānanda about the one hundred sixty million kings bearing different names, and about there being eighty million kings. Śāriputra, I was the universal monarchs who appeared in those places during those times. Therefore, do not think that the universal monarchs who appeared in these places during those times were someone else.”
This was chapter 8, “Honoring, Respecting, Revering, Worshiping, and Pleasing the Thus-Gone Ones.”
Colophon
Translated, edited, and finalized in the Lhenkar Palace by the Indian preceptor Dharmaśrīprabha and the translator monk Palgyi Lhünpo
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