The Ten Patiences

Chapter Twenty-Nine

 

II.A.iv. Verses in praise of Patience in Perceiving All as Illusions

Sutra:

All the various dharmas in the world
Are nothing more than illusions.
Once the Bodhisattva can understand them thus,
His mind will not be swayed.

All karma is born from the mind.
But since the mind is said to be like an illusion,
If one leaves these discriminations,
All paths of existence will be extinguished.

The mind is like a magician
Who conjures up every image,
Causing the crowd to crave them with delight.
Ultimately there is nothing there.

Commentary:

All the various dharmas in the world / Are nothing more than illusions. All worldly dharmas are illusory. Once the Bodhisattva can understand them thus, / His mind will not be swayed. The Bodhisattva’s inherent nature will be unshakable. 

All karma is born from the mind. / But since the mind is said to be like an illusion, since the human mind is illusory, if one leaves these false discriminations, / All paths of existence will be extinguished. The six paths of rebirth, the Three Realms, and the twenty-five planes of existence will be evident for what they are.

The mind is like a magician / Who conjures up every kind of unreal image. He creates these images, causing the crowd to crave them with delight. The magician merely stimulates everyone’s greed for sights. Ultimately there is nothing there. Those states are illusory and unreal; their existence cannot be substantiated.

Sutra:

The world is also thus.
All things are illusions— 
Without a nature or an origin,
In spite of their manifold appearances.

The Bodhisattva liberates sentient beings,
Leading them to realize that dharmas are illusory.
Beings are no different from illusions.
Once illusion is understood, there are no beings.

Sentient beings, countries,
And all dharmas in the three periods of time,
Are, without exception,
No more than illusions. 

The mind conjures up illusory men and women,
Elephants, horses, oxen, sheep,
Cottages, pools, springs, and such,
Groves, flowers, fruits, and the like.

These illusory things have no sentience,
Nor any place where they dwell.
Characterized by ultimate quiescence,
They manifest in response to discriminations.

The Bodhisattva in this way
Contemplates all in the world.
All dharmas, conditioned or unconditioned,
He understands to be illusory. 

Sentient beings and lands
Are created by various kinds of karma.
Entering the illusion-like realm,
The Bodhisattva relies on and attaches to nothing.

Commentary:

Just as a magician conjures up illusory images, the world is also thus. / All things are illusions. All worldly phenomena are unreal, as if conjured up by a magician. They are without a nature or an origin, / In spite of their manifold appearances. Lacking an independent or intrinsic nature of their own, all worldly dharmas are not subject to production and destruction. Nevertheless, they manifest in myriad forms.  

Through the use of various expedient means, the Bodhisattva liberates sentient beings, / Leading them to realize that dharmas are illusory. / Beings are no different from illusions. Sentient beings are themselves illusory transformations. Once illusion is understood, there are no beings. Once you understand that all is illusory and unreal, how can you still be attached to the notion of sentient beings? All sentient beings, countries of Buddhas, and all dharmas in the three periods of time, including the Dharma spoken by Buddhas of the past, present, and future—are, without exception, / No more than illusions. They have no essential nature of their own.

Like a magician, the mind conjures up illusory men and women, / Elephants, horses, oxen, sheep, / Cottages, houses, pools, springs, and such, / Groves, gardens, flowers, fruits, and the like. These illusory things have no sentience, /Nor any place where they dwell, since they are mere illusions. These unreal phenomena are characterized by ultimate quiescence, / they manifest in response to discriminations. According to the time, place, and circumstances, these distinct forms manifest.

The Bodhisattva in this way manifests these distinct states and contemplates all in the world. He manifests a myriad of transformation bodies in all worlds. All dharmas, conditioned or unconditioned, / He understands to be illusory and unreal.

Sentient beings and lands / Are created by various kinds of karma. The entire material world with its mountains, rivers, lands, buildings, sentient beings and countries, is a manifestation of karma. Some countries prosper, while others are in decline; some nations fail, while others have virtuous and kind citizens. All of these phenomena are results of delusion and karma. They are retributions brought on by the strength of karma. Entering the illusion-like realm of the Samadhi of Perceiving All as Illusions, the Bodhisattva relies on and attaches to nothing. Since everything is illusory, the Bodhisattva relies upon nothing and clings to nothing.

II.A.v. Verses in praise of Patience in Perceiving All as Mirages

Sutra:

Attaining skillful means in this way,
The Bodhisattva is tranquil and free from sophistry.
Dwelling on the ground of nonobstruction,
He universally displays magnificent might. 

Courageous disciples of the Buddha!
Comply with and enter the wonderful Dharma.
Deftly observe how every thought
Traps and entangles one in the world.

The myriad thoughts resemble mirages,
Causing beings to be confused.
The Bodhisattva recognizes the true nature of thoughts
And leaves all confusion far behind.

Commentary:

Attaining skillful means in this way, through nonattachment, the Bodhisattva is tranquil, unmoved, and free from sophistry. / Dwelling on the ground of perfectly fused nonobstruction, / He universally displays the Bodhisattva’s magnificent spiritual might. 

Courageous disciples of the Buddha! Comply with and enter the Samadhi of Perceiving All as Illusions and certify to all the wonderful Dharma. / Deftly observe how every discursive thought / Traps and entangles one in the world like a net, so one cannot get free. 

The myriad discursive thoughts resemble mirages—appearing to exist from afar, but disappearing when one draws near—causing beings to be confused. Such thoughts create confused interpretations and deluded ideas in sentient beings. The Bodhisattva recognizes the true nature of thoughts / And leaves all confusion far behind. Recognizing discursive thoughts for what they are, the Bodhisattva does not entertain them. He stops giving rise to confusion and attachments. 

Sutra:

Sentient beings are each distinct,
Their forms and kinds not the same.
Realize that everything comes from thought.
There is no reality to anything. 

Commentary:

Sentient beings are each distinct, / Their forms and kinds not the same. There are different species of sentient beings, and within the same species, each individual is unique. In the human race, for instance, there are people of different skin color—yellow, white, black, and red—corresponding to distinct ethnic groups. Actually, each member of the human race has a unique appearance. Even identical twins are not exactly the same. Each person’s features are distinct. Moving to the animal realm, horses, oxen, sheep, chicken, dogs, and pigs all differ from one another, and within each kind of animal there are also differences. Horses come in a number of varieties, as do cattle, pigs, etc. Indeed, within every species of sentient being, there are different types and forms.

Realize that everything comes from thought. Why are there different kinds of sentient beings? It’s because sentient beings have different thoughts. Thoughts can be compared to specks of dust in the air. In the sunlight, you can see the individual dust motes dancing up and down, drifting north, south, east, or west. Each dust mote travels its own path. Our thoughts are the same way. Some people’s thoughts drift south; others’ thoughts tend northward; still others have thoughts leading east or west, up or down. Magnanimous-hearted people tend to ascend; petty-minded folk head downwards. Think it over: Don’t our thoughts drift and wander like motes of dust bobbing in the air?  

One who thinks of getting rich all the time is infatuated with money. Some are intoxicated with the idea of political power. Others fantasize about making a fortune in the business world. Even scholars are confused by their books and turn into pedants or bookworms that bore millions of holes in books!

Farmers are preoccupied with making a fortune from their crops. They think of planting peanuts and monopolizing the peanut market, or planting cotton and becoming the cotton king! All those are cases of delusion leading to attachment. If people don’t break such attachments, they will never understand things as they really are and will remain muddled till they die. How pitiful!  

Thoughts are as countless as motes of dust, and since people’s thoughts are different, their appearances also differ. The content of their thoughts in past lives determines their present features. If you wished to look like a ghost in a previous life, in this life you look like a ghost! If you preferred to look like a human, in this life you have a human form. If in a past life you thought, “Being a pig isn’t bad,” in this life you become a pig. Perhaps you wanted to be a dog in America, thinking, “The dogs in America have a better life than some people. These dogs get hugged and petted by their owners, who love them more than anything.” If you envy the life of an American dog, you might just become one. But it might turn out that your owner gets tired of you and doesn’t love you that much—you never know.

Our deluded thoughts have accumulated over millions of eons. We’re not talking about the thoughts of one lifetime. We have been immersed in deluded thoughts life after life, over infinite eons. You should realize that after engaging in such thoughts over a long period of time, you will fall. The Shurangama Sutra very clearly describes the four kinds of birth—from wombs, eggs, moisture, and transformation. “The womb-born come from emotion.” They are born from the love between men and women. Love produces love, which gives rise to more love, in life after life without end. This cycle of love and procreation continues uninterrupted.

“The egg-born come from thought.” When a mother hen lays on her eggs, she thinks, “My chicks are just about to hatch. They’re coming out soon!” She thinks that day after day, and as a result her chicks indeed hatch.

“The moisture-born come from combination.” That is, what is moist combines with what is dry to produce such type of birth.

“The transformation-born come from separation.” These beings separate from their original substance—that is, they evolve or transform into something different. For example, some insects transform into birds, and birds also can change into insects. One species transforms into another.

When you understand that everything comes from thought, then you realize that there is no reality to anything. In this world, people contend for fame and profit and pursue wealth, sex, fame, food, and sleep—but none of that is real. Such individuals are born muddled and die in a state of confusion, without understanding anything in between. No matter how smart you are, you are not free to determine your own birth and death. Why do people cultivate the Path? They want to liberate themselves from birth and death. Thus, they must understand that there is no reality to the discursive thoughts that generate all worldly phenomena.

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