 |
||
|
||
|
||
The Vajra Prajna Paramita Sutra
THE SUPREMACY OF UNCONDITIONED BLESSINGS
CHAPTER 11
Sutra:
“Subhuti, if there were as many Ganges Rivers as there are grains of sand in the Ganges River, what do you think, would the grains of sand in all those Ganges Rivers be many?”
Subhuti said, “Very many, World Honored One. The Ganges Rivers alone would be incalculable, how much the more so the grains of sand in them.”
“Subhuti, I will now tell you the truth. If a good man, or good woman, used the seven precious gems to fill three thousand great thousand world systems equal in number to the grains of sand in all those Ganges Rivers, and gave them as a gift, would he obtain many blessings?”
Subhuti said, “Very many, World Honored One.”
The Buddha told Subhuti, “If a good man, or good woman, were to receive and hold from this sutra even so few as four lines of verse and speak them for others, his blessings and virtue would surpass the former’s blessings and virtue.
Commentary:
This section of text says that blessings and virtue which are devoid of outflows surpass blessings and virtue with outflows; that unconditioned blessings and virtue surpass conditioned blessings and virtue.
In a previous section it was said that the fourth fruit sages of the Small Vehicle, the Bodhisattvas, and the Buddhas must not grasp at marks, or have any attachment to self, to phenomena, or to emptiness. They must be entirely without attachment. Having no attachment, they obtain the fruit of Buddhahood, the Bodhisattva’s adornment of Buddhalands, or the certification to the fourth fruit of Arhatship.
Suspecting there would be people who would still attach to the mark of giving, the Buddha further said to Subhuti, “Look in front of you at the Ganges River, Subhuti. Suppose all the grains of sand in the river were counted. The sand of the Ganges River is as fine as flour – so fine that a particle of sand cannot even be seen with the naked eye. How many grains of sand would you estimate are in the river? You could say that even the highest possible estimate still would not express the quantity accurately. Suppose, then, that each grain of sand in the Ganges River itself became a Ganges River. How many Ganges Rivers would there be? Just as you cannot calculate the number of grains of sand in the Ganges River, so, too, if each grain became a Ganges River, the number of Ganges Rivers would be immeasurable. Then if you further attempted to reckon the number of grains of sand in all those Ganges Rivers, how much the more incalculable would it be. It would be impossible to conceive of such a number.”
All Subhuti could say was, “I am unable to conceive of the multitude of those Ganges Rivers, to say nothing of the grains of sand in them. So all I can say is very many.”
The Buddha said, “I will plainly tell you. I will speak the truth. Suppose a man, or woman, who has cultivated the five precepts and the ten good acts uses the seven precious gems of gold, silver, lapis lazuli, crystal, mother-of-pearl, red pearls, and carnelian, enough to fill three thousand great thousand world systems equal in number to the sands of as many Ganges Rivers as were spoken of above to make offerings. Would he obtain many blessings?” In an earlier section of the sutra there was a mention of three thousand great thousand world systems, but not of as many three thousand great thousand world systems as there are grains of sand in that incalculable number of Ganges Rivers. The analogy is being extended several thousands of ten thousands of times.
Subhuti said that although the blessings and virtues derived from giving that amount of the seven precious gems would be many, they would be the reward of conditioned blessings, that is, blessings and virtue with outflows. Anything conditioned eventually becomes extinct, and the presence of outflows keeps one bound to non-ultimate states.
The Buddha then spoke of a man, or woman, who cultivates the five precepts and ten good acts, and who receives and holds the Vajra Prajna Paramita Sutra – anywhere from lecturing the entire Vajra Sutra to receiving and holding no more than one of its fourline gathas.
To receive refers to acceptance in the mind; To hold refers to practice with the body – that is, truly to listen and then to offer up your conduct. First you receive it with your mind. For example, the sutra says a Bodhisattva should leave all marks in order to obtain anuttarasamyaksambodhi. You ponder that in your mind, “Ah, a Bodhisattva must leave all marks must mean he must not be attached to the mark of self, the mark of phenomena, or to the mark of emptiness.” Once your mind understands, you actually undertake its practice. You give without the mark of self, others, or the mark of a lifespan in between. Your giving is devoid of attachment to the giver, the recipient, or the gift given. You perform meritorious deeds without involving yourself in the mark of performing meritorious deeds.
Perhaps you receive and hold this four-line gatha:
There is no mark of self,
And no mark of others,
No mark of living beings,
And no mark of a life.
You encounter someone and say, “The Vajra Sutra says that we should be without a mark of self. We should not see ‘me’ as so important, nor should we be involved in the existence of ‘you,’ or the mark of ‘others.’ If we have no self or others, then there is no mark of living beings, and thus no mark of a life.”
The person listens and thinks, “Oh, you have to separate from all marks.”
One who can leave all marks is a Bodhisattva. A Bodhisattva does not say “I did that act of merit. I have this much virtue. I built a monastery. I printed that sutra.” He is devoid of such marks; that is, he truly forgets them. He doesn’t just become fanatical about remaining anonymous so that if someone asks, “Who printed that sutra,” he replies, “I don’t know” when, in fact, he did it himself. That’s an example of being too concerned with remaining anonymous. Is that clear? If you know something, say so. If you don’t know, say you don’t know. If no one asks, you don’t have to volunteer all the details of your most recent meritorious deed. But if you print the sutra and forget it, so that when it’s done, it’s done, then there is no mark. However, although you forget it, no merit and virtue exist. When you have no outflows, the merit and virtue have no outflows. If you have outflows, the merit and virtue also have outflows. If you can understand unconditioned dharma, your merit and virtue also become unconditioned.
Perhaps you chose the lines which say:
If one sees me in form,
If one seeks me in sound,
He practices a deviant way,
And cannot see the Tathagata.
This gatha is in the latter portion of the Vajra Sutra. The Buddha himself spoke it, and so the me refers to Shakyamuni Buddha. If one sings a fine song for the Buddha and searches for him in that way, he cannot perceive the Tathagata’s dharma body. Earlier in the sutra the Buddha asked, “If a body were as big as Mount Sumeru, would that body be big?”
Subhuti first replied that it would be very big and afterward said, “It is spoken of by the Buddha as no body; therefore it is called a big body.” What is a no body? It is not a body. If it is not a body, what is it? If it is not a body how can it be called a big body? No body refers to the dharma body. The Buddha’s dharma body is incomparable. If you have a body as big as Mount Sumeru it is still comparable to Mount Sumeru. Even if it is bigger than Mount Sumeru it can still be compared to it. The dharma body is beyond compare. Matchless. There is only one and not two. There is no second thing. That is a big body. The no body is the dharma body, not the reward body. In the Buddha’s teaching, the dharma body is the true Buddha. So it is said, “This offering is made to the pure dharma body Vairocana Buddha.” Vairocana Buddha pervades all places. “To the perfect full reward body Rocana Buddha…to the millions of transformation bodies, Shakyamuni Buddha.” The reward body and the transformation bodies are not true Buddhas. Only the dharma body is the true Buddha. So the sutra says, no body is called a big body. No body is the dharma body.
Perhaps you chose the four lines which say:
All conditioned phenomena
Are like dreams, illusions, bubbles, shadows,
Like dew drops and a lightning flash;
Contemplate them thus.
Everything which has form and appearance, everything which exists, is included within conditioned phenomena. That which is conditioned is like an empty, illusive, unreal thing, like a bubble on water or like a man’s shadow. What are conditioned phenomena? Everything in the world with form and appearance – even your
country, your family, and your own body – are all conditioned phenomena. Since all conditioned phenomena decay, you should tell people what the four lines say. If you understand four lines, speak four lines. If you understand five, speak five. If you understand six, speak six. If you understand the entire Vajra Sutra, speak the entire sutra. If you understand ten Vajra Sutras, speak that many. Explain as much as you understand.
The blessings and virtue you obtain from speaking for others, even but four lines, are more than those obtained from the gift of as many of the seven precious gems as would fill three thousand great thousand world systems equal to the number of grains of sand in as many Ganges Rivers as there are grains of sand in the Ganges River. Why? This merit and virtue is conditioned, merit and virtue with outflows, which has a mark. The merit and virtue derived from speaking the Buddhadharma is unconditioned, undecaying merit and virtue, without outflows and devoid of a mark. The latter bears greater fruit, and thus surpasses the former blessings and virtue.
Contents Preface Translator < Previous Next >
Chapters & Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32