The Lankavatara Sutra – The Sagathakam (Verse Summary)

“The Lanka asserts the existence of a reality which is perceivable only by the eye of transcendental knowledge which is in the possession of a wise man.
It is the exalted ultimate self-nature of all things and as it can be recognised only when our spiritual eye looks beyond the realm of discriminations which is ruled by laws of being and non-being it is also called the truth of Solitude or the Absolute.“  [p 299]

Listen to the wonderful Mahayana doctrine,
Declared in this Lankavatara Sutra,
Composed into verse-gems,
And destroying a net of the philosophical views.

At that time Mahamati the Bodhisattva-Mahasattva said this to the Blessed One :

1. As thou reviewest the world with thy transcendental knowledge and compassion, it is to thee like an ethereal flower, of which one cannot say whether it is born or destroyed, as [the category of] being and non-being is inapplicable to it.

"He who does not find core or substance in any of the realms of being,like flowers which are vainly sought in fig trees that bear none,
— such a monk gives up the here and the beyond, just as a serpent sheds its worn-out skin."

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Udumbara_(Buddhism)]

2. As thou reviewest the world with thy transcendental knowledge and compassion, it is to thee always like a dream, of which one cannot say whether it is permanent or destructible, as [the category of] being and non-being is inapplicable to it.

3. As thou reviewest all things with thy transcendental knowledge and compassion, they are to thee like visions, they are beyond the reach of intellectual grasp, as [the category of] being and non-being is inapplicable to them.

4. With thy transcendental knowledge and compassion which are above form, thou
comprehendest the egolessness of things and persons, and art thyself always clean and free from the hindrances of passion and knowledge.

From the Visuddhi Magga:

"Mere suffering exists, no sufferer is found.
The deeds are, but no doer of the deeds is there,
Nirvana is, but not the man that enters it.
The path is, but no traveller on it is seen."

5. Thou dost not vanish in Nirvana, nor is Nirvana abiding in thee; for it transcends the duality of knowing and known and of being and non-being.

"Nirvana is, but not the man that enters it."

6. Those who see the Muni so serene and beyond birth [and death] will be cleansed of attachment, stainless both in this world and in the other.

7. Like a mirage in the spring-time, the mind is found bewildered; animals imagine water but there is no reality to it.

8. Thus the Vijnana-seed is evolved and the world comes into view; the ignorant imagine it is born, just like the dim-eyed ones perceive things in the darkness.

9. The Dhyana-practiser, the Dhyana, the subject for it, the destruction, the seeing of the truth, - these are no more than discriminations; when this is recognised there is emancipation.

10. These individual objects are not solid [realities]; they rise because of imagination; as the imagination itself is empty, what is imagined is empty.

11. The Skandhas, of which the Vijnana is the fifth, resemble the reflections of the trees in water; they are to be regarded as Maya and a dream, they are so by thought-construction; make no discriminations!

12. By regarding the world as always like a magically-moving corpse, or a machine, or like a dream, or a lightning, or a cloud; the triple continuation is torn asunder and one is emancipated.

13. By wrong discrimination the Vijnana[-system] rises; severally as eightfold, as ninefold, like waves on the great ocean.

14. The root is constantly nourished by habit-energy, firmly attached to the seat; the mind moves along with an objective world as iron is drawn by the lodestone.

15. The original source on which all sentient beings are dependent is beyond theorisation; all doings cease and emancipation obtains, knowing and known are transcended.

16. In the Samadhi known as Maya-like, one goes beyond the ten stages of Bodhisattvaship; one who is removed from thought and knowledge perceives the Mind-king.

17. When a "turning-back" takes place in the mind, one abides permanently in the palace of lotus-form, which is born of the realm of Maya.

18. Abiding in it one attains a life of imagelessness, and, like a many-coloured jewel, performs religious deeds for all beings.

19. Except for discrimination, there is neither Samskrita (or things made) nor Asamskrita (or things not made); the ignorant hold on to them as a barren woman does to the child of her dream; what fools they are!

21. To me teaching is an expedient, but I do not teach external signs; the ignorant because of their attachment to existence seize on signified and signifying.

22. A knower of all things is not an all-knower, and all is not within all; the ignorant discriminate and [think] "I am the enlightened one in the world"; but I am not enlightened nor do I enlighten others.

23. Here is nothing but thought-construction and name. You seek in vain for individual signs; the Skandhas are like a hair-net wherein discrimination goes on.

24. Not ever being in existence, what things are there that are born? [but] in causation nothing is lost; when effect-producing objects (samskrita) are regarded as like unto a barren woman's child or a flower in the sky, one perceives that grasping (subject) and grasped (object) are an error and desists [from committing the same error].

There is nothing that is to be born, nor is there anything that has been born; even causation is not.[; it is because of worldly usage that things are talked of as existing.]

“At that moment again Mahamati the Bodhisattva-Mahasattva said this to the Blessed One:

Pray tell me, Blessed One, about the teaching known as the essence of discrimination as
regards words, whereby, Blessed One, I and other Bodhisattva-Mahasattvas, comprehending and becoming well acquainted with the essence of discrimination as regards words, will be thoroughly informed of the signification of two things, expression and expressed, and, thereby immediately attaining supreme enlightenment, will explain the signification of these two things, expression and expressed, for the purification of all beings.

Replied the Blessed One: Then, Mahamati, listen well and reflect well, for I will tell you about it.

Well done! said Mahamati the Bodhisattva-Mahasattva and listened to the Blessed One.

The Blessed One said this to him: There are, Mahamati, four kinds of word-discrimination.
They are:

(1) Words denoting individual marks,

(2) dream-words,

(3) words growing out of the attachment to erroneous speculations and discriminations, and

(4) words growing out of the discrimination that knows no beginning.

Now, Mahamati, the words denoting individual marks rise from discriminating forms and characteristic signs as real in themselves and becoming attached to them. The dream-words, Mahamati, rise from the unreal surroundings which reveal themselves [before the mind] when it recollects its previous experience. The words growing out of the attachment to erroneous speculations and discriminations, Mahamati, rise from recollecting deeds once previously committed. The words growing out of the discrimination that has been functioning since beginningless time, Mahamati, rise from the habit-energy whose seeds have been growing out of the clinging to erroneous speculations and false imaginations since beginningless time. I say, Mahamati, these are the four features of word-discrimination, which is the answer to your question.”

25. I enter not into Nirvana by means of being, of work, of individual signs; I enter into
Nirvana when the Vijnana which is caused by discrimination ceases.

26. Like a great flood where no waves are stirred because of its being dried up, the Vijnana [-system] in its various forms ceases to work when there is the annihilation [of the Manovijnana].

28. One self-nature (svabhava) I teach, which is removed from speculation and thought-construction, which belongs to the exquisite [spiritual] realm of the wise, removed from the two Svabhavas [i.e., the Parikalpita and the Paratantra].

29. Though multitudinousness of things has no [real] existence as such, they appear to the intoxicated as   like fire-flies because of their constitutional disturbance ; likewise is the world essentially [appearance].

30. As Maya is manifested depending on grass, wood, and brick, though Maya itself is non-existent, so are all things essentially [mere appearances].

32. When the truth-seeker sees [the truth] devoid of discrimination and free from impurities, then he is accomplished in his contemplation; he sees me, there is no doubt.

33. In this there is nothing of thought-construction; it is like a mirage in the air; those who thus see all things, see nothing whatever.

34. In causation which governs being and non-being things do not originate; in the triple world the mind is perturbed, therefore multiplicities appear.

35. The world is the same as a dream, and so are the multiplicities of things in it; [the wise] see property, touch, death, a world-teacher, and work as of the same nature.

36. This mind is the source of the triple world ; when the mind goes astray there appears this world and that;  recognising the world as such, as it is non-existent, [a wise man] does not discriminate a world.

37. The ignorant because of their stupidity see [an objective world] as taking its rise and disappearing, but he who has transcendental knowledge sees it neither rising nor disappearing.

38. Those who are always above discrimination, in conformity with truth, and removed from mind and its belongings, are in the celestial palace of Akanishtha where all evils are discarded.

39. Such attain the powers, psychic faculties, and self-control, are thoroughly adept in the Samadhis, and are there [in the heaven] awakened to enlightenment; but the transformed ones are awakened here [on earth].

From The Akankheyya Sutta :

“Let him fulfil all righteousness, be devoted to that quietude of heart which springs from within, let him not drive back the ecstasy of contemplation, let him look through things, let him be much alone.”

037  The Inner Life

038 The Three Bodies of the Buddha

40. The Buddhas appear on earth in their innumerable transformation-bodies beyond calculation, and everywhere the ignorant following them listen to the Dharma.

039 Perversion

41. [There is one thing which is] released from [such conditions of existence as] beginning, middle, and ending, removed from existence and non-existence, all-pervading, immovable, pure, and above multiplicity, and [yet] producing multiplicity.

42. There is an essence entirely covered by thought constructions and hidden inside all that has body; because of perversion there is Maya; Maya, [however], is not the cause of perversion.

040  The Precepts (Sila)

• Not killing
• Not stealing
• Abstention from sexual misconduct
• Not lying
• Abstention from intoxicants

 

041  Turning to the Real (Paravritti)   

43. Even because of the mind being deluded, there is a somewhat [perceived as real]; being bound up with the two Svabhavas there is the transformation of the Alayavijnana.

44. The world is no more than thought-construction, and there rages an ocean of views as regards ego and things (dharma); when the world is clearly perceived as such and there takes place a revulsion [in the mind], this [one] is my child who is devoted to the truth of perfect knowledge.

042 The Roots of Corporeality

45. Things are discriminated by the ignorant as heat, fluidity, motility, and solidity; they are, however, unrealities asserted; there is neither signified nor signifying.

043 Reclaiming Our Sense of Being

46. But this body, form (samsthana) and senses are made of the eight substances ; deluded in the cage of transmigration, the ignorant thus discriminate this phenomenal world (rupa).

47. In the intermingling of causes and conditions, the ignorant imagine the birth [of all things]; but as they do not understand the truth, they go astray in this abode of the triple world.

48. In all things there is no self-nature, they are mere words of people; that which is discriminated has no reality; [even] Nirvana is like a dream; nothing is seen to be in transmigration, nor does anything ever enter into Nirvana.

044 From Multiplicity to Being

 49. What is known as multiplicity-seeds multiply in the mind (citta) ; in what is revealed, the ignorant imagine birth and are delighted with dualism.

045 Ignorance, Desire & Karma

50. Ignorance, desire, and karma they are the causes of mind and its belongings; as they evolve thus [relatively], they are [recognised] by me to be Paratantric.

51. When the field of mentation gets confused, they imagine that there is something [real] to take hold of; in this imagination there is no perfect knowledge, it is false imagination rising from delusion.

52. When bound in conditions there evolves a mind in all beings; when released from conditions, I say, I see no [mind rising].

046 No Longer Abiding in the Body

53.  When the mind, released from conditions and unsupported by thought of self, abides no longer in the body, to me there is no objective world.

047 The Spiritual Dupe

54.  As a king or a wealthy householder, giving his children various clay-made animals, pleases them and makes them play [with the toys], but later gives them real ones;

55. So, I, making use of various forms and images of things, instruct my sons; but the limit of reality (bhutakoti) can [only] be realised within oneself.

048 The Dancing Waves 

56.  Like waves that rise on the ocean stirred by the wind, dancing and without interruption,

57. So the flood of the Alayavijnana is always stirred by the winds of objectivity (vishaya), and goes on dancing with the various Vijnana-waves.

049 Suchness

58. Because there is that which is seized and that which seizes, mind rises in all beings; there are no such signs visible [in the world] as are imagined by the ignorant.

59. There is the highest Alayavijnana, and again there is the Alaya as thought-construction (vijnapti)  ; I teach suchness (tathata) that is above seized and seizing.

60. Neither an ego, nor a being, nor a person exists in the Skandhas ; [there is birth when] the Vijnana is born, and [cessation when] the Vijnana ceases.

051 Deconstructing the World

61. As a picture shows highness and lowness while [in reality] there is nothing of the sort in it; so in things existent there is thingness seen [as real] while there is nothing of the sort in them.

62. The visible world (drisyam) has always the appearance of the city of the Gandharvas and that of fata morgana; it is to be regarded as such, but it does not thus exist to the transcendental wisdom [of the wise].

052 The Reality Beyond Cognition

63. That which is released from senses and measurements is neither an effect nor a cause; it has nothing to do with knowledge and that which is to be known; it is free from predicated and predicating.

053 Beyond the Triple World

64. There is something which is nowhere to be seen by anybody as the Skandhas, causation, enlightenment; of that which is nowhere to be seen by anybody, what description can we make?

65. A proposition [is established] by means of conditions, reasons, and examples, such as a dream, the Gandharva's [castle, fire-] wheel, mirage, the moon, the sun.

66. By such examples as flame, hair, etc., I teach that birth is something not to be recognised really as such; the world is something imagined, empty like a dream, or Maya, which is error.

054 True Meditation

67. The triple world has nowhere to place itself, either within nor without, it is thus [homeless]; seeing that all beings are unborn, there grows a full acceptance of the truth that nothing is ever born (kshanti-anutpatti).

68. He will then attain the Samadhi called Maya-like, the will-body, the psychic faculties, the self-mastery, the various powers belonging to the Mind.

69. All things existent are unborn, empty, and without self-substance; and the delusion about them rises and ceases in accordance with conditions.

70. Depending upon the Mind, there appears [within] a mind and, without a world of individual objects (rupina); this and no other is an external world which is imagined by the ignorant.

71. This heap of bones, the Buddha-image, the analysis of the elements [these are subjects of meditation]; by means of mental images (prajnapti) good students handle the various aspects of the world.

72. Body, abode, and property are three representations (vijnapti) seized upon [as objects]; the will, [the desire] to hold, the discrimination of these representations are the seizing agents.

73. As long as those philosophers who get confused in their reasonings and who are unable to go beyond the realm of words, distinguish the discriminating from the   discriminated so long they do not see [the truth] of suchness.

74. When the Yogin by means of his transcendental wisdom understands that all things existent have no self-substance, he thus attains calmness and establishes himself in the state of no-form (animitta).

75. As an object painted black is taken by the unwise to be a cock, so by the ignorant who do not know, the triple vehicle is understood in like manner.

76. There are no Sravakas, no Pratyekabuddhas here; if, however, one recognises the form of a Buddha, of a Sravaka, this is a transformed manifestation of the Bodhisattva whose nature is compassion itself.

77. The triple world of existence is no more than thought-construction, which is discriminated by the twofold Svabhava [of imagination and relative knowledge]; but when [within the mind] a turning-away from the course of sense-objects (dharma) and the ego-soul (pudgala) takes place, then we have [the truth of] suchness (tathata).

78. The sun, the moon, the lamp-light, the elements, and the gems, - each functions in its own way without discrimination; and so does the Buddha's nature work on its own accord.

79.  After my passing who will be the upholder of the Discipline [or Doctrine, sasana]! How long should the teacher abide? How long should the teaching continue?

80. Things known as defiled or as pure are like hairnets [that is, wrongly perceived by the dim-eyed];  they [really] have nothing to do with such notions as birth, abiding, and disappearance, or as eternity and non-eternity.

81. It is like a drugged man whoever he is, who sees the world in golden colours; though there is no gold, for him the earth has changed into gold.

82. The ignorant, thus defiled since beginningless time with the mind and what belongs to it, apprehend existing things to be really such as they appear to be; though in fact they owe their origin to Maya or a mirage.

83. One seed and no-seed are of the same stamp, and one seed and all seed also; and in one mind you see multiplicity.

84. When one seed is made pure, there is a turning into a state of no-seed; the sameness comes from non-discrimination; from superabundance there is birth and general confusion from which there grows a multitude of seeds, hence the designation all-seed.

85.  Nothing whatever is born or ceases to exist by reason of causation; when causation is discriminated there is birth and cessation.

86. The triple world is no more than thought-construction (prajnapti), there is no reality in its self-nature; by means of this thought-constructed reality, logicians go on discriminating.

87. When the self-nature of existence is understood there is no need of keeping off the delusion; no-birth is the self-nature of existence, seeing thus one is released.

88. Maya is not without reality, because it has something resembling it; the reality of all things is talked of [in a similar manner]; they are unreal like a lightning-flash [appearing and disappearing] quickly, and therefore they are regarded as resembling Maya.

89. There is nothing that is to be born, nor is there anything that has been born; even causation is not; it is because of worldly usage that things are talked of as existing.

90. It is not to keep off the idea of birth and disappearance which takes place in causation; it is to keep off the wrong imagination as to causation, which is cherished by the ignorant.

91. There is no self-nature, no thought-construction, no reality, no Alaya-vijnana; these, indeed, are so many discriminations cherished by the ignorant who like a corpse are bad logicians.

92. When those who are born of the Buddha see that the world is no more than Mind itself, they will obtain a body of transformation, which has nothing to do with effect-producing works, but which is endowed with the powers, psychic faculties, and self-control.

93. When the mind is evolved, forms begin to manifest themselves; really [if] no minds, no forms; the mind is due to [the accumulation of] delusions since beginningless past; then the Yogin by his transcendental wisdom sees the world shorn of its appearances (abhasa).

94. Individual form, reality, thought-construction, — these are [only] a mental disturbance; transcending all this, my sons will walk where there is no discrimination.

95. The Gandharva's air-castle, Maya, a hair-circle, and a fata morgana, —they are nonentities yet they appear as if they were entities; the nature of an objective existence is thus to be regarded.

96. Nothing has ever been brought into existence, all that is seen before us is delusion; it is due to delusion that things are imagined to have come into existence; the ignorant are delighted with the dualism of discrimination.

97. As memory [or habit-energy, vasana] grows in various forms the Mind is evolved like the waves; when memory is cut off, there is no evolving of Mind.

98. The Mind is evolved dependent upon a variety of conditions, just as a painting depends upon the wall [on which it is painted]; if otherwise why is not the painting produced in the
air?

99. If Mind evolves at all depending on individual forms as conditions, then Mind is condition-born, and the doctrine of Mind-only will not be held true.

100. Mind is grasped by mind, it is not a something produced by a cause; Mind is by nature pure, memory (habit-energy) has no existence in [mind which is like] the sky.

101. An individual mind is evolved by clinging to Mind in itself; there is no visible world outside [Mind itself]; therefore, [it is declared that] Mind-only exists.

101. An individual mind is evolved by clinging to Mind in itself; there is no visible world outside [Mind itself]; therefore, [it is declared that] Mind-only exists.

102. Mind (citta) is the Alayavijnana, Manas is that which has reflection as its characteristic nature, it apprehends the various sense-fields, for which reason it is called a Vijnana.

103. Citta is always neutral; Manas functions in two ways; the functioning Vijnana is either good or bad.  

104. The gate of highest reality has nothing to do with the two forms of thought-construction [subject and object]; Where the imageless stands, why should we establish the triple vehicles?

105. The abodes and the stages of Buddhahood are established in  the Mind-only which is imageless—this was told, is told, and will be told by the Buddhas.

106. The [first] seven stages are [still] of the mind, but here the eighth is imageless; the two stages, [the ninth and the tenth,] have [still] something to rest themselves on; the [highest] stage that is left belongs to me.

107. Self-realisation and absolute purity - this stage is my own; it is the highest station of Mahesvara, the Akanishtha [heaven] shining brilliantly.

108. Its rays of light move forward like a mass of fire; they who are bright-coloured, charming, and auspicious transform the triple world.

109. Some worlds are being transformed, while others have already been transformed - there I preach the various vehicles which belong to my own stage.

110. In self-realisation itself there are no time[-limits]; it goes beyond all the realms belonging to the various stages; transcending the measure of thought, it establishes itself as the result [of discipline in the realm] of no-appearance.

111. That non-existence and existence is recognised, and multiplicity too, is due to erroneous attachment of the ignorant; the error [is to see] multiplicity.

112. If there is non-discriminative knowledge, it is not in accord with reason to say that [individual] realities (vastu) exist; because of Mind, there are no individual forms (rupani), and, therefore, we speak of non-discriminative [knowledge].

114. The Dhyanas, the immeasurables, and the no-form Samadhis, and the thoughtcessation - all these are not at all found in Mind-only.  The Dhyanas, the immeasurables, the formless, the Samadhis, and the complete extinction of thought (nirodha) - these do not exist where the Mind alone is.

115. The fruit of the Stream-entered, and that of the Once-to-come; the fruit of the Not-to-come and Arhatship - all these are due to mental perturbation.The fruit of the Stream-entered, and that of the Once-returning, and that of the Never-returning, and Arhatship - these are the bewildered states of mind.

Subhuti, what do you think? Does a disciple who has entered the Stream of the Holy Life say within himself: I obtain the fruit of a Stream-entrant?

Subhuti said: No, World-honored One. Wherefore? Because "Stream-entrant" is merely a name. There is no stream-entering. The disciple who pays no regard to form, sound, odor, taste, touch, or any quality, is called a Stream-entrant.

116. I am Mahamati, Blessed One, and am well versed in the Mahayana. I wish to ask one hundred and eight questions of thee who art most eloquent.

117. Hearing his words the Buddha, the best knower of the world, looking over the whole assembly, spoke to the son of the Sugata thus:

118. The Sankha and the Vaiseshika philosophers teach birth from a being or from a non-being; all that are proclaimed by them are the inexplicables.

119.The four kinds of explanation are: direct statement, questioning, discernment, and setting aside; whereby the philosophers are kept away.

120. According to worldly knowledge (samvriti) everything exists, but in ultimate truth (paramartha) none exists; in ultimate truth, indeed, one sees that all things are devoid of self-substance. Although there is no self-substance, there rises something which one perceives [as objective reality] - this is called worldly knowledge.

121. If things are regarded as existing by themselves, they exist because of their being so designated in words; if there were no words to designate their existence, they are not.

122. That which exists only as word and not as reality —such is not to be found even in worldly knowledge; this comes from the nature of reality being erroneously understood, for no such perception is possible.

123. If such errors were granted, it would not be possible to talk about the non-existence of self-substance;  as the nature of reality is erroneously understood, there is something perceived where there is really no self-substance; all is indeed non-existent.

124. What is seen as multiplicity is the mind saturated with the forms of evil habits; because of mental delusions one clings to forms and appearances regarding them as objective [realities].

124. What is seen as multiplicity is the mind saturated with the forms of evil habits; because of mental delusions one clings to forms and appearances regarding them as objective [realities].

“Again, Mahamati, my teaching consists in the cessation of sufferings arising from the discrimination of the triple world; in the cessation of ignorance, desire, deed, and causality; and in the recognition that an objective world, like a vision, is the manifestation of Mind itself.”    [from page 36, just before section 7 of Chapter 2, of the translation]

125. Discrimination is cut asunder by non-discriminating discrimination; the truth of emptiness is seen into by non-discriminating discrimination.

126. Like an elephant magically created, like golden leaves in a painting, the visible world is to the people whose minds are saturated with the forms of ignorance.

127. The wise do not see [the(?)] error, nor is there any truth in its midst; if truth is in its midst, [the(?)] error would be truth.

128. If there is the rising of individual forms (nimitta) apart from all error, this will indeed be error, the defiled is like darkness.

129. As a man whose eye is affected with a cataract perceives a hair-circle because of his delusion, so the ignorant perceive an objective world rising with its various aspects.

130.   This triple world resembles a hair-net, or water in a mirage which is agitated; it is like a dream, Maya; and by thus regarding it one is emancipated.

131. Discrimination, that which is discriminated, and the setting up of discrimination; binding, that which is bound, and its cause: these six are conditions of liberation.

132. There are no stages [of Bodhisattvaship], no truths, no [Buddha-]lands, no bodies of transformation; Buddhas, Pratyekabuddhas, Sravakas are [products of] imagination.

133. The personal soul, continuity, the Skandhas, causation, atoms, the supreme spirit, the ruler, the creator, - [they are] discriminations in the Mind-only.

134. Mind is all, it is found everywhere and in everybody; it is by the evil-minded that multiplicity is recognised, there are no [recognisable] marks where Mind-only is.

135. The ego-soul is not with the Skandhas, nor are the Skandhas in the ego-soul. They are not as they are discriminated, nor are they otherwise.

136. The reality of objects is seen being discriminated by the ignorant; if it were so as they are seen, all would be seeing the truth.

137. As all things are unreal, there is neither defilement nor purity; things are not as they are seen, nor are they otherwise.

138. The constructing of appearances (nimitta) created by delusion is the characteristic mark of Paratantra (dependence) knowledge; the giving of names to these appearances [regarding them as real individual existences] is characteristic of the imagination.

139. When the constructing of appearances and names, which come from the union of conditions and realities, no more takes place, we have the characteristic mark of perfected knowledge (parinishpanna).

140. The world is everywhere filled with Buddhas of Maturity,  Buddhas of Transformation, beings, Bodhisattvas, and [Buddha-]lands.

141. The Issuing[-Buddhas], Dharma[-Buddhas], Transformation[-Buddhas] and those that appear transformed—they all come forth from Amitabha's Land of Bliss.

142. What is uttered by Buddhas of Transformation and what is uttered by Buddhas of
Maturity constitute the doctrine fully developed in the sutras, whose secret meaning you should know.

143. What is uttered by the Bodhisattvas and what is uttered by the teachers—they are both what is uttered by the Buddhas of Transformation and not by the Buddhas of Maturity.

144. All these individual objects (dharmas) have never been born, but they are not exactly non-existent either; they resemble the Gandharva's castle, a dream, and magical creations.

145. Mind is set in motion in various ways, and mind is liberated; mind rises in no other way, and mind thus ceases.

146. The mind of all beings is that which perceives something like objective reality, and this mind is the product of imagination;  in Mind-only there is no objective world; when one is released from discrimination there is liberation.

147. Brought together by the evil habit of erroneous reasoning, discrimination asserts itself; hence the evolution of this fallacious world.

148. [Relative] knowledge (vijnana) takes place where there is something resembling an external world; [transcendental] knowledge (jnana)  belongs to the realm of Suchness. When a turning-back (paravritta) takes place, there is a state of imagelessness, which is the realm of the wise.

149. There are the Dhyana for the examination of meaning, the Dhyana practised by the ignorant; the Dhyana with Tathata for its object, and the pure Dhyana of the Tathagata.

150. By reason of false imagination (parikalpita) all things existent are declared unborn; as people take refuge in relative knowledge (paratantra), they get confused in their discriminations.

151. When relative knowledge is purified by keeping itself aloof from discrimination, and detached from imagination, there is a turning-back to the abode of suchness.

152. Do not discriminate discrimination, there is no truth in discrimination; [this world of] delusion is discriminated as to that which is perceived and that which perceives, but in reality there is no such dualism in it; it is an error to recognise an external world, [the conception of] self-substance is due to imagination.

153. Imagining by this imagination, self-substance is conceived to rise by the conditions of origination (pratyayodbhava); an external world is recognised in distortion, there is [in fact] no such external world, but just the Mind.

154. To those who see [the world] clearly and properly, the separation between that which perceives and that which is perceived ceases; there is no such external world as is discriminated by the ignorant.

155. When the Mind is agitated by habit-energy (or memory) there rises what appears to be an external world; when the dualistic imagination ceases there grows [transcendental] knowledge (jnana), the realm of suchness, the realm of the wise, which is free from appearances and beyond thought.

156. Form, Name, and Discrimination [correspond to] the two forms of Svabhava, and Right Knowledge and Suchness [correspond to] the Perfect Knowledge aspect. As the ignorant grasp the finger-tip and not the moon, so those who cling to the letter, know not my truth.

157. From the union of mother and father, the Alaya gets connected with Manas; like a rat in a pot of ghee, the red together with the white grows up.

158. Through the stages of Pesi, Ghana, and Arbuda, the boil grows—an unclean mass bearing a variety of karma; nourished by the wind of karma and the four elements, it comes to maturity like a fruit.

159. The five, the five, and the five; and the sores are nine;  nails, teeth, and hair are supplied; when ready to spring forth it is born.

160. When [the baby] is just born, it is like a worm growing in the dung; like a man waking from sleep, the eye begins to distinguish forms, and discrimination goes on increasing.

161. With knowledge gained by discrimination, human speech is produced from the combination of the palate, lips, and cavity; and discrimination goes on like a parrot.

162. Philosophical doctrines are definite, but the Mahayana [or Great Vehicle] is not definite, it is set in motion by the thoughts of beings; it is not an abode for those who see wrongly. The vehicle realised within my own inner self is not the realm that can be reached by dialecticians.

163-164. After the passing of the Teacher, pray tell me who will be the bearer [of the Mahayana]? O Mahamati, thou shouldst know that there will be one who bears the Dharma, when sometime is past after the Sugata's entrance into Nirvana.

165. In Vedali, in the southern part, a Bhikshu most illustrious and distinguished [will be born]; his name is Nagahvaya, he is the destroyer of the one-sided views based on being and non-being.

166. He will declare my Vehicle, the unsurpassed Mahayana, to the world; attaining the stage of Joy he will go to the Land of Bliss.

167. When the self-nature [of all things] is examined by knowledge, it is beyond reach; therefore, they are without self-nature and unattainable.

168. In the realm of conditional origination, "there is" and "there is not" do not take place; those who imagine something real in the midst of conditional origination say, "there is" and "there is not," but these philosophical views are far away from my teaching.

169. The giving names to all things existent has always been going on for hundreds of generations past; this has been repeated, is being repeated constantly; an endless mutual discrimination is thus taking place.

170. If this designating does not take place, the whole world falls into confusion; thus names are established in order to get rid of confusion.

171. Things existent are discriminated by the ignorant in the threefold form of discrimination; there is delusion from discriminating names, from conditional origination, and from the [the notion of] being born.

172. [The philosophers argue that] the primary elements are unborn and like the sky are imperishable; but [in reality] there are no individual self-substances and the notion [itself] belongs to discrimination.

173. [Individual existences are] appearances, images, like Maya, like a mirage, a dream, a wheel made by a revolving fire-brand, the Gandharva's [castle], an echo—they are all born in  the same manner.

174. Non-duality, suchness, emptiness, ultimate limit, essence (dharmata), non-discrimination - all these I teach as belonging to the aspect of perfected knowledge
(parinishpanna).

175. Language belongs to the realm of thought, the truth becomes [thus] wrongly [represented]; transcendental knowledge (prajna) being discriminated by thought falls into a duality; therefore, transcendental knowledge is something not imagined.

176. As far as the duality of being and non-being extends, there is the realm of intellection; when this realm vanishes, intellection completely ceases.

177. When the external world is not grasped [as real] there is neither causation nor reality; there is the essence of suchness (tathata), which is the [spiritual] realm of the wise.

178. The whole existence is not perceived by the ignorant as it is perceived by the wise; the whole existence as it is perceived by the wise, has no marks [of individuation].

179. As a spurious necklace, not of gold though looking like it, is imagined by the ignorant to be of [genuine] gold, so all things are imagined by those who reason wrongly.

180.  Those who believe in the birth of something that has never been in existence and, coming to exist, finally vanishes away, - which leads them to assert that things come to exist, things pass away, according to causation, - such people have no foothold in my teaching.

181. Things have no beginning, no end; they are abiding in the aspect of reality; there is no creator, nothing doing in the world, but the logicians do not understand.

182. Whatever things that are thought to have been in existence in the past, to come into existence in the future, or to be in existence at present - all such are unborn.

183. The transformation of the form in time, and the embracing [of the soul] in the elements and sense-organs, which is in its middle-way existence (antarabhava) -  they who [thus] imagine [the birth of a child] are not wise men.

184. The Buddhas do not discriminate the world as subject to the chain of origination; but they regard the causation which rules this world as something like the city of the Gandharvas.

185. This [world] is just a sign  indicative of reality (dharmata); apart from the sign, nothing is produced, nothing is destroyed.

186. In a mirror, in water, in an eye, in a vessel, and on a gem, images are seen; but in them there are no images [ie realities] anywhere to take hold of.

187. Like a mirage in the air, so is a variety of things mere appearance; they are seen in diversity of forms, but are like a child in a barren woman's dream.

188.  My Mahayana is neither a vehicle, nor a sound, nor words; it is neither the truth, nor emancipation, nor the realm of imagelessness.

189. Yet the Mahayana is a vehicle on which the Samadhis are carried leading to various creative activities; the several forms of the will-body are adorned with the flowers of the sovereign will.

190. Existence in its conditional relations cannot be [described] as unity or diversity; it is just in a general way of speaking that there is birth, cessation, and destruction.

121 Emptiness

191. Emptiness unborn is one thing, emptiness born is another; emptiness unborn is the better, [because] emptiness born leads to destruction.

192. Suchness, emptiness, the limit, Nirvana, and the Dharmadhatu, the various will-made bodies, - these I point out as synonymous.

193. Those who discriminate purity according to the Sutras, Vinayas, and Abhidharmas, follow books and not the inner meaning; they are not established in egolessness.

193. Those who discriminate purity according to the Sutras, Vinayas, and Abhidharmas, follow books and not the inner meaning; they are not established in egolessness.

195. When being obtains by causation, who can bring about non-being? By reason of the wrong views based on the doctrine of birth, being and non-being are discriminated.

196. When it is realised that there is nothing born, nothing passing away, there is no way to admit it s being and not-being; the world is to be regarded as quiescent.

197. The visible world is likened to the hare's horns as long as all beings go on discriminating; those who discriminate are deluded just like a deer running after a mirage.

198. By clinging to discrimination, [more] discrimination goes on; when the cause of discrimination is put away, one is disengaged therefrom.

199. As in a mirage in the air, the thought of water is cherished where there is no water, so things are seen by the ignorant otherwise than by the wise.

200. The insight of the wise, who move about in the realm of imagelessness, is pure, is born of the triple emancipation, is released from birth and destruction.

201. Transcendental knowledge is deep, exalted, far-reaching, and perceives all the Buddha countries; this I teach for the sons of the Victorious One; for the Sravakas I teach
transitoriness.

202. The triple existence is transitory, empty, devoid of the ego and what belongs to it; thus I teach the doctrine of generality to the Sravakas.

203. Not to be attached to anything existent, truly knowing what the truth of solitude is, is to walk all alone; the fruit of Pratyekabuddhahood which is above speculation is what I teach.

204. External objects are imagined, those endowed with corporeality are dependent on relative knowledge; being deluded they see not themselves, therefore a mind is evolved.

205. But [from the absolute point of view] the tenth is the first, and the first is the eighth; and the ninth is the seventh, and the seventh is the eighth.

206. And the second is the third, and the fourth is the fifth, and the third is the sixth; what gradation is there where imagelessness prevails?

[CHAPTER FOUR (Section 80)]
At that time again Mahamati the Bodhisattva-Mahasattva said this to the Blessed One:
Pray tell me, Blessed One, about the state of perfect tranquillisation (nirodha) and its further development as attained by all the Bodhisattvas, Sravakas, and Pratyekabuddhas; for when this further development is thoroughly understood by myself and other Bodhisattva-
Mahasattvas all may be saved from being confounded by the happiness which comes from the attainment of perfect tranquillisation and also from falling into the confused state of mind of the Sravakas, Pratyekabuddhas, and philosophers.

Said the Blessed One: Then listen well and reflect well within yourself; I will tell you.
Certainly, Blessed One, said Mahamati the Bodhisattva-Mahasattva and gave ear to the Blessed One.  The Blessed One said this to him:

Those Bodhisattva-Mahasattvas who have reached the sixth stage as well as all the Sravakas and Pratyekabuddhas attain perfect tranquillisation.

The Blessed One said this to him: Those Bodhisattva-Mahasattvas who have reached the sixth stage as well as all the Sravakas and Pratyekabuddhas attain perfect tranquillisation.

At the seventh stage, the Bodhisattva-Mahasattvas, giving up the view of self-nature as subsisting in all things, attain perfect tranquillisation in every minute of their mental lives, which is not however the case with the Sravakas and Pratyekabuddhas;

Therefore, until the seventh stage there is not a well-established attainment of tranquillisation in every minute of their mental lives.

Mahamati, at the eighth stage there is Nirvana for the Sravakas and Pratyekabuddhas and Bodhisattvas; but the Bodhisattvas are kept away by the power of all the Buddhasfrom [being intoxicated by] the bliss of the Samadhi, and thereby they will not enter into Nirvana.

When the stage of Tathagatahood is not fulfilled there would be the cessation of all doings, and if [the Bodhisattvas] were not supported [by the Buddhas] the Tathagata-family would become extinct.

Therefore, the Buddhas, the Blessed Ones, point out the virtues of Buddhahood which are beyond conception.

Therefore, [the Bodhisattvas] do not enter into Nirvana, but the Sravakas and Pratyekabuddhas, engrossed in the bliss of the Samadhis, therein cherish the thought of Nirvana.

At the seventh stage, Mahamati, the Bodhisattva properly examines into the nature of the Citta, Manas, and Manovijnana; he examines into [such subjects as] ego-soul and what belongsto it, grasped and grasping, the egolessness of persons and things, rising and disappearing, individuality and generality;

he skilfully ascertains the fourfold logical analysis; he enjoys the bliss of self-mastery;

he enters successively upon the stages; he knows the differences obtaining in the various elements of enlightenment.

The grading of the stages is arranged by me lest the Bodhisattva-Mahasattva, not knowing what is meant by individuality and generality and failing to understand the continuous development of the successive stages, should fall into the philosophers' wrong way of viewing things.

But, Mahamati, there is really nothing rising, nothing disappearing, all is nothing except what is seen of the Mind itself; that is, the continuous development of the successive stages and all the multiple doings of the triple world [- they are all of Mind itself].

This is not understood by the ignorant. I and all the Buddhas1 establish the doctrine of the stages which develop successively as do all the doings of the triple world.

Further, Mahamati, the Sravakas and Pratyekabuddhas at the eighth stage of Bodhisattvahood are so intoxicated with the happiness that comes from the attainment of perfect tranquillisation, and, failing to understand fully that there is nothing in the world but what is seen of the Mind itself, they are thus unable to overcome the hindrances and habit-energy growing out of their notions of generality and individuality; and adhering to the egolessness of persons and things and cherishing views arising therefrom, they have the discriminating idea and knowledge of Nirvana, which is not that of the truth of absolute  solitude.

Mahamati, when the Bodhisattvas face and perceive the happiness of the Samadhi of  perfect tranquillisation, they are moved with the feeling of love and sympathy owing to their  original vows, and they become aware of the part they are to perform as regards the [ten]  inexhaustible vows.

Thus, they do not enter Nirvana. But the fact is that they are already in Nirvana because in them there is no rising of discrimination. With them the discrimination of  grasped and grasping no more takes place; as they [now] recognise that there is nothing in the  world but what is seen of the Mind itself, they have done away with the thought of  discrimination concerning all things. They have abandoned adhering to and discriminating  about such notions as the Citta, Manas, and Manovijnana, and external objects, and self-nature; however, they have not given up the things promoting the cause of Buddhism; because of their attainment of the inner insight which belongs to the stage of Tathagatahood; whatever they do all issues from their transcendental knowledge.

It is like a man crossing a stream in a dream. For instance, Mahamati, suppose that while  sleeping a man dreams that he is in the midst of a great river which he earnestly endeavours  with all his might to cross by himself; but before he succeeds in crossing the stream, he is  awakened from the dream, and being awakened he thinks: "Is this real or unreal?"

He thinks again: "No, it is neither real nor unreal.

By reason of the habit-energy of discrimination which  has been accumulated by experience ever since beginningless time, as multiplicities of forms  and conditions are seen, heard, thought, and recognised, there is the perception and  discrimination of all things as existent and nonexistent; and for this reason my Manovijnana experiences even in a dream all that has been seen by myself."

In the same way, Mahamati, the Bodhisattva-Mahasattvas of the eighth stage of
Bodhisattvahood, after passing through the first up to the seventh stage, observe that "there is no more rising in them of discrimination since all things are seen as like Maya, etc., when they have an intuitive understanding of the [true] nature of all things, and [further] observing that, therefore, there is the cessation of all things as to grasped and grasping which rise from one's ardent desire for things, and also observing how the mind and what belongs to it carry on their discrimination, the Bodhisattva-Mahasattvas never relax their efforts to practise the teachings of the Buddhas.

Mahamati, they will exercise themselves to make those who have not yet attained the truth attain it. For the Bodhisattvas, Nirvana does not mean extinction; as they have abandoned thoughts of discrimination evolving from the Citta, Manas, and Manovijnana, there is for them the attainment of the recognition that all things are unborn. And, Mahamati, in ultimate reality there is neither gradation nor continuous succession; [only] the truth of absolute solitude (viviktadharma) is taught here in which the discrimination of all the images is quieted. So it is said:

1. The abodes and the stages of Buddhahood are established inthe Mind-only which is imageless—this was told, is told, and will be told by the Buddhas.

2. The [first] seven stages are [still] of the mind, but here the eighth is imageless; the two stages, [the ninth and the tenth,] have [still] something to rest themselves on; the [highest] stage that is left belongs to me.

3. Self-realisation and absolute purity—this stage is my own; it is the highest station of
Mahesvara, the Akanishtha [heaven] shining brilliantly.

4. Its rays of light move forward like a mass of fire; they who are bright-coloured, charming, and auspicious transform the triple world.

5. Some worlds are being transformed, while others have already been transformed;there I preach the various vehicles which belong to my own stage.

6. [Verse 205] But [from the absolute point of view] the tenth is the first, and the first is the eighth; and the ninth is the seventh, and the seventh is the eighth.

7. [Verse 206] And the second is the third, and the fourth is the fifth, and the third is the sixth; what gradation is there where imagelessness prevails?

207. Where all things are wiped away, even a state of imagelessness ceases to exist for the Yogins; in the sameness of existence and non-existence, the fruit [of wisdom] is born to the wise.

208. How does existence cease to exist? How does the sameness take place? When the mind fails to understand [the truth], there is disturbance inside, outside, and in the middle; with the cessation [of the disturbance] the mind sees the sameness.

209. Since beginningless time, the ignorant are found transmigrating through the paths, enwrapped in their attachment to existence; as a wedge is induced by another wedge, they are led to the abandonment [of their wrappage].

210. This triple world resembles a hair-net, or water in a mirage which is agitated; it is like a dream, Maya; and by thus regarding it one is emancipated.

211. There are four psychic powers: that which comes from the maturing [of the disciplinary exercises], that which comes from the sustaining power of the Buddhas, that which rises from entering into the various paths of living beings, and that which is obtained in a dream.

212. The psychic power which is obtained in a dream, that which comes from the power of the Buddhas, and that which has its birth by entering the various paths of beings; these powers are not born of the maturing [of the disciplinary exercises].

213. The mind being influenced by habit energy, there rises a something resembling real existence (bhavabhasa); as the ignorant do not understand, it is said that there is the birth [of realities].

214. As long as external objects (bahyam) are discriminated as possessing individual marks, the mind is confused (vimuhyate) being unable to see its own delusion.

215. Why is birth spoken of? Why is not the perceived world spoken of? When the perceived world, which has no existence, is yet perceived as existing, what is that which is spoken of? To whom is it? And why?

216. The Citta in its essence is thoroughly pure, the Manas is denied, and the Manas is with the Vijnanas, habit energy is always casting out [its seeds].

217. The Alaya is released from the body, the Manas solicits the [various] paths of existence; the Vijnana is deluded with something resembling an objective world, and perceiving it is befooled.

218. What is seen is one's own mind, an objective world exists not; when one thus perceives [that existence is] an error, one even gets into suchness.

219. The [spiritual] realm attained by Dhyana devotees, karma, and the exalted state of the Buddhas; these three are beyond thought, they belong to the Vijnana realm that surpasses thought.

220. The past and the future, Nirvana, a personal ego, space, words, of these I talk because of worldly convention, but ultimate reality is beyond the letter.

221. The two vehicles and the philosophers are one in their dependence on [wrong] views; they are confused in regard to Mind-only, and imagine an external existence.

222. The enlightenment attained by the Pratyekabuddhas,
Buddhahood, Arhatship, and the seeing of the Buddhas these are the secret seeds that grow in enlightenment; but it is accomplished in a dream.

223. Maya, Citta (mind), intelligence, tranquillity, the dualism of being and non-being - where are these teachings? for whom? whence? wherefore? and of what signification? Pray tell me.

224. I teach such things as Maya, being and non-being, etc., to those who are confused in the teaching of Mind-only; when birth and death are linked together [as one], qualified and qualifying are removed.

225. Another name for Manas is discrimination (vikalpa), and it goes along with the five
Vijnanas; mind seeds (cittabija) take their rise in the way images [appear in a mirror] or
[waves roll on] the ocean-waters.

226. When the Citta, Manas, Vijnana cease to rise, then there is the attainment of the will-body and of the Buddha-stage.

227. Causation, the Dhatus, Skandhas, and the self-nature of all things, thought-construction, a personal soul, and mind -  they are all like a dream, like a hair-net.

228. Seeing the world as like Maya and a dream, one abides with the truth; the truth, indeed, is free from individual marks, removed from speculative reasoning.

229. The inner realisation attained by the wise always abides in a state of no-memory; it leads the world to the truth as it is not confused with speculative reasoning.

230. When all false speculation subsides, error no more rises; as long as there is discriminative knowledge, error keeps on rising.

231. The world is empty and has no self-nature; to talk of permanency and impermanency is the view maintained by followers of birth and not by those of no-birth.

232. [The philosophers] imagine the world to be of oneness and otherness, of bothness [and
not-bothness], and [to have risen] from Isvara, or spontaneously, or from time, or from a supreme spirit, or other causal agency.

233. The Vijnana which is the seed of transmigration is not evolved when this visible world is [truly] recognised; like a picture on a wall, it disappears when [its nature] is recognised.

234. Like figures in Maya, people are born and die; in the same way the ignorant because of their stupidity [imagine] there really is bondage and release.

235. The duality of the world, inner and outer, and things subject to causation—by distinctly understanding what they are, one is established in imagelessness.

236. The mind (citta) is not separate from habit-energy, nor is it together with it; though enveloped with habit-energy the mind itself remains undifferentiated.

237. Habit-energy born of the Manovijnana is like dirt wherewith the Citta, which is a perfectly white garment, is enveloped and fails to display itself.

238.  As space is neither existent nor non-existent, so is the Alaya in the body, I say; it is devoid of existence as well as of non-existence.

239. When the Manovijnana is "turned over" (vyarritta), the Citta frees itself from turbidity; by understanding [the nature of] all things, the mind (citta) becomes Buddha, I say.

240. Removed from the triple continuity, devoid of being and non-being, released from the four propositions, all things (bhava) are always like Maya.

241. The [first] seven stages are mind-born and belong to the two Svabhavas; the remaining [two] stages and the Buddha-stage are the Nishpanna ("perfected knowledge").

242. The world of form, of no-form, and the world of desire, and Nirvana are in this body; all is told to belong to the realm of Mind.

244. In the theory of no-birth, causation is not accepted [as is maintained by the ignorant]; where existence is accepted transmigration prevails; seeing that [all things] are like Maya,
etc., one does not discriminate individual signs.

245. The triple vehicle, the one vehicle, and the no-vehicle, of these I talk, for the sake of the dull-witted, and [also] for the wise, solitude-loving ones.

246. Two things are established by me; individual objects and realisation; there are four principles which constitute the dogmas of logic.

247. The error [or the world] is discriminated when it is seen as characterised with varieties of forms and figures; when names and forms are removed self-nature becomes pure which is the realm of the wise.

247. The error [or the world] is discriminated when it is seen as characterised with varieties of forms and figures; when names and forms are removed self-nature becomes pure which is the realm of the wise.

248. As long as discrimination is carried on, the Parikalpita (false imagination) continues to take place; but as what is imagined by discrimination has no reality, self-nature is [truly understood in] the realm of the wise.

249. The mind emancipated is truth constant and everlasting; the essence making up the self-nature of things and suchness is devoid of discrimination.

250. There is reality (vastu); it is not to be qualified as pure, nor is it to be said defiled; since a mind purified leaves traces of defilement, but reality is the truth that is [absolutely] pure, belonging to the realm of the wise.

251. The world is born of causation; when it is regarded as removed from discrimination and as resembling Maya, a dream, etc., one is emancipated.

252. Varieties of habit-energy growing out of error are united with the mind; they are perceived by the ignorant as objects externally existing; and the essence of mind (cittasya
dharmata) is not perceived.

253. The essence of mind is pure but not the mind that is born of error; error rises from error,
therefore Mind is not perceived.

254. Delusion itself is no more than truth, truth is neither in Samskara nor anywhere else, but it is where Samskara is observed [in its proper bearings].

255. When the Samskrita is seen as devoid of qualified and qualifying, all predicates are discarded and thus the world is seen as of Mind itself.

256. When the [Yogin] enters upon Mind-only, he will cease discriminating an external world; establishing himself where suchness has its asylum he will pass on to Mind-only.  

257. By passing on to Mind-only, he passes on to the state of imagelessness;  when he establishes himself in the state of imagelessness, he sees not [even] the Mahayana.

258. The state of non-striving (anabhoga) is quiescent and thoroughly purified with the [original] vows; the most excellent knowledge of egolessness sees no [duality in the world] because of imagelessness.

The Vow of the Bodhisattva Samantabhadra from the Avatamsaka Sutra:

Just as all the previous Sugatas, the Buddhas
Generated the mind of enlightenment
And accomplished all the stages
Of the Bodhisattva training,
So will I too, for the sake of all beings,
Generate the mind of enlightenment
And accomplish all the stages
Of the Bodhisattva training

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodhisattva_vow

259. Let him review the realm of mind, let him review the realm of knowledge, let him review the realm, with transcendental knowledge (prajna), and he will not be confounded with individual signs.

170 The Four Noble Truths

260. Pain belongs to mind, accumulation is the realm of knowledge (jnana); the [remaining] two truths  and the Buddha-stage are where transcendental knowledge functions.

261. The attainment of the fruits, Nirvana, and the eightfold path - when all these truths are thus understood, there is Buddha-knowledge thoroughly purified.

171 Being Conscious

262. The eye, form, light, space, and attention (manas) - out of this [combination] there is the birth of consciousness (vijnana) in people; consciousness is indeed born of the Alaya.

172 Our Right To Be Entertained!

263. There is nothing grasped, nor grasping, nor one who grasps; there are no names, no objects; those who carry on their groundless discriminative way of thinking lack intelligence.

264. Name is not born of meaning, nor is meaning born of name; whether things are born of cause or of no-cause, such is discrimination; have no discrimination!

173 Our Non-Physical Reality Here

265. In all things there is no self-nature; words too are devoid of reality; as the ignorant understand not what is meant by emptiness, yes, by emptiness, they wander about.

174 Prapanca

266. Imagining himself to be standing on a truth, he discourses on thought-construction; oneness is not attained in five ways, and thus the truth is abandoned.

267. Delusion (prapanca) is the evil one who is to be broken down; being and non-being is to be transcended; as one sees into [the truth of] egolessness, he has no longing for, no evil thought of, the world.

175  The Word Made Concrete

268. [The philosophers imagine] a permanently existing creator engaged in mere verbalism; highest truth is beyond words, the Dharma is seen when cessation takes place.

269. Leaning on the Alaya for support the Manas is evolved; depending on the Citta and Manas the Vijnana-system is evolved.

177 The Knowledge of Mind-Only

270. What is established by a proposition (samaropa) is a proposition; suchness is the essence of mind; when this is clearly perceived, the Yogin attains the knowledge of Mind-only.

178 Beyond Contemplation

271. Let one not think of the Manas, individual signs, and reality from the point of view of permanency and impermanency; nor let him think in his meditation of birth and no-birth.

272. They do not discriminate duality; the Vijnana rises from Alaya; the oneness of meaning thus taking place is not to be known by a dually operating mind.

273. There is neither a speaker nor speaking nor emptiness, since the Mind is seen; but when the Mind is not seen there rises a net of philosophical doctrines.

274. There is no rising of the causation[-chain], nor are there any sense-organs; no Dhatus, no Skandhas, no greed, no Samskrita.

275. There is no primarily working fire, no working done, no effects produced, no final limit, no power, no deliverance, no bondage.

276. There is no state of being to be called neutral [or inexplicable] (avyakrita); there is no duality of dharma and adharma; there is no time, no Nirvana, no dharma-essence.

277. And there are no Buddhas, no truths, no fruition, no causal agents, no perversion, no Nirvana, no passing away, no birth.

278. And then there are no twelve elements (anga), and no duality either, of limit and no-limit; because of the cessation of all the notions [that are cherished by the philosophers] I declare [there is] Mind-only.

279. The passions, path of karma, the body, creators, fruitions - they are like a fata morgana and a dream; they are like a city of the Gandharvas.

280. By maintaining the Mind-only, the idea of reality is removed; by establishing the Mind-only permanency and annihilation are seen [in their proper relationship].

281. There are no Skandhas in Nirvana, nor is there an ego-soul, nor any individual signs; by entering into the Mind-only, one escapes from becoming attached to emancipation.

180 A Net of Philosophical Views

282. It is error (dosha) that causes the world to be externally perceived as it is manifested to people; Mind is not born of the visible world; therefore, Mind is not visible.

181 De-Programming the Mind

283. It is the habit-energy of people that brings out into view something resembling body, property, and abode; Mind is neither a being nor a non-being, it does not reveal itself because of habit-energy.

284. Dirt is revealed within purity but purity itself is not soiled; as when the sky is veiled with clouds, Mind is invisible [when defiled with error].

182  Prajna

285.  Karma is accumulated by Citta, and discriminated by Jnana; and one acquires by Prajna the state of imagelessness and the powers.

286. The Citta is bound up with the objective world; the intellect's function is to speculate; and in the excellent state of imagelessness there is the evolving of transcendental wisdom (prajna).

183 The Direction of the Attention

287. Citta, Manas, and Vijnana are devoid of thoughts and discriminations; it is the Sravakas and not the Bodhisattvas that try to reach reality by means of discrimination.

288. The Tathagata's Jnana is pure, [resting] in quietude in the most excellent patience [or recognition of truth]; it is productive of excellent sense and is devoid of purposiveness
(samudacara-varijitam).

184 Philosophy & Beyond

289. According to the false imagination, [self-substance] is, but from the point of view of relativity (paratantra) it is not; owing to perversion, what is discriminated is grasped [as real]; in the relativity there is no discrimination.

185 The No-Step to Mind

290. Mind is not born of the elements (bhuta), Mind is nowhere to be seen; it is the habit-energy of people that brings out into view body, property, and abode.

186 Drop the Stories!

291. All that is element-made is not form and form is not element-made; the city of the Gandharvas, a dream, Maya, an image, - these are not element-made.

187  The Two Truths

292.  Prajna, with me, is of three kinds;  Mind is not born of the elements (bhuta), Mind is nowhere to be seen; Mind is not born of the visible world; therefore, Mind is not visible. 

188 Prajna & the Three Vehicles

[Chapter 3, Verse 42 (p137)] Prajna, with me, is of three kinds; whereby the wise grow powerful, individual signs are discriminated, and all things are manifested.]

293. It is the habit-energy of people that brings out into view something resembling body, property, and abode;  whereby the wise grow powerful, individual signs are discriminated, and all things are manifested.

294. My Prajna has nothing to do with the two vehicles, it excludes the world of beings; that of the Sravakas evolves from their attachment to the world of beings; the Tathagata's Prajna is spotless because of its being in accord with Mind-only.

189 The Wonderful Teaching on Causation [Pratitya Samutpada 1]

295.  As reality and non-reality can be predicated of existence that originates from causation, the view of oneness and otherness definitely belongs to them.

190 The Mood Machine [Pratitya Samutpada 2]

191 The Prison Gate [Pratitya Samutpada 3]

295.  As reality and non-reality can be predicated of existence that originates from causation, the view of oneness and otherness definitely belongs to them.

192  Desire

296.  Multitudinousness of differentiations is imagined [as real by the ignorant], but being like Maya they obtain not; varieties of individual forms are discriminated as such, but they [really] do not obtain.

297 [To imagine] individual forms is wrong, it puts one in bondage; they are born of Mind due to the false imagination of the ignorant; based on the relativity they are discriminated.

194 The Absolute Centre

297 [To imagine] individual forms is wrong, it puts one in bondage; they are born of Mind due to the false imagination of the ignorant; based on the relativity they are discriminated.

298. The existence thus subjected to discrimination is no other than its relativity aspect;   the false imagination is of various forms; based on the relativity, discrimination is carried on.

195 The Two Truths Non-Debate

299. Conventional truth (samvriti) and ultimate truth (paramartha)—if there be a third, nonentity is its cause; the false imagination belongs to the conventional; when it is cut asunder, there is the realm of the wise.

300. As to the Yogins there is one reality which reveals itself as multiplicity and yet there is no multiplicity in it; so is the nature of the false imagination.

301. As by the dim-eyed a variety of objects is seen and imagined while the dimness itself is neither a form (rupa) nor a no-form (arupa), so is the relativity [discriminated] by the unknowing ones.

196 The Dark Shadow of the Ego

302. As is pure gold, water free from dirt, the sky without a cloud, so is [the Mind] pure when detached from the false imagination.

197 Bodhisattvas & Shravakas

303. There are three kinds of my Sravakas: the transformed, the born of the vows, and the Sravakas disengaged from greed and anger, and born of the Dharma.

304. There are three kinds, also, of the Bodhisattvas: those who have not yet reached Buddhahood, those who manifest themselves according to the thoughts of sentient beings, and those who are seen in the likeness of the Buddha.

198 Imagination and Relativity

305. Falsely-imagined existence is not, but from the relativity point of view it is, assertion and refutation are destroyed when one is freed from the imagination.

199 The Great Dreaming 

306. If the relativity-aspect of existence is, while the imagination is not, this means that there is a being apart from being and that a being is born of a non-being.

200 The Field of Suffering

307. Depending on the false imagination there obtains the relativity-aspect of existence; from the conjunction of form and name there rises false imagination.

308. False imagination can never be perfect knowledge (nishpanna), it is not productive of anything else [but itself];  then one knows what is meant by ultimate truth whose self-nature is purity.

201 Beyond Tantrums

309. There are ten kinds of false imagination and six kinds of relativity; in the knowledge of
Tathata innerly attained there is no differentiation.

202 The False Imagination

Section 54  (LIV)

Further, Mahamati, I will tell you about the various features of the false imagination
(parikalpita); and when you and the Bodhisattva-Mahasattvas are well acquainted with each of them in its specific form, you will get away from discrimination; and seeing well and knowing the way of inner realisation by noble wisdom and also the ways of speculation by the philosophers, you will cast off discriminations such as grasped and grasping, and will not be induced to discriminate in respect to the multiple aspects of relativity-knowledge
(paratantra), as well as the forms of the false imagination. What are the various features of the false imagination, Mahamati? They are the discriminations as regards (1) words
(abhilapa), (2) meaning, (3) individual marks, (4) property, (5) self-nature, (6) cause, (7) philosophical views, (8) reasoning, (9) birth, (10) no-birth, (11) dependence, and (12) bondage and emancipation. These, Mahamati, are the various features of the false imagination.

Now, Mahamati, what is the discrimination of words? That is the becoming attached to various sweet voices and singing—this is the discrimination as regards words.

What is the discrimination of meaning? It is the discrimination by which one imagines that words rise depending on whatever subjects they express, and which subjects one regards as self-existent and belonging to the realisation of noble wisdom.

What is the discrimination of individual marks? It is to imagine in whatever is denoted by words the multitudinousness of individual marks which are like a mirage, and, clinging tenaciously to them, to discriminate all things according to these categories: warmth, fluidity, motility, and solidity.

What is the discrimination of property? It is to desire a state of wealth such as gold, silver, and various precious stones.

What is the discrimination of self-nature? It is to make discrimination according to the imaginary views of the philosophers in reference to the self-nature of all things which they stoutly maintain, saying, "This is just it, and there is no other."

What is the discrimination of cause? That is, to distinguish the notion of causation in reference to being and non-being and to imagine that there are cause-signs - this is the discrimination of cause.

What is the discrimination of philosophical views? That means getting attached to the philosophers' wrong views and discriminations concerning such notions as being and non-being, oneness and otherness, bothness and not-bothness.

What is the discrimination of reasoning? It means the teaching whose reasoning is based on the grasping of the notion of an ego-substance and what belongs to it.

What is the discrimination of birth? It means getting attached to the notion that things come into existence and go out of it according to causation.

What is the discrimination of no-birth? It is to discriminate that all things are from the beginning unborn, that the causeless substances which were not, come into existence by reason of causation.

What is the discrimination of dependence? It means the mutual dependence of gold and the filament [which is made of gold].

What is the discrimination of bondage and emancipation? It is like imagining that there is something bound because of something binding as in the case of a man who by the help of a cord ties a knot or loosens it.

These, Mahamati, are the various features of the false imagination, to which all the ignorant and simple-minded ones cling, imagining that things are or are not. Those attached to the notion of relativity are attached to the notion of multitudinousness of things rising from the false imagination. It is like seeing varieties of objects depending on Maya, but these varieties thus revealing themselves are discriminated by the ignorant as something other than Maya itself according to their way of thinking.  Now, Mahamati, Maya and varieties of objects are neither different nor one. If they were different, varieties of objects would not have Maya for their cause. If Maya were one with varieties of objects, there would be no distinction between the two, but as there is the distinction these two—Maya and varieties of objects—are neither one nor different. For this reason you and the Bodhisattva-Mahasattvas should never give yourselves up to the notion of being and non-being.

203 The Four Maya-Like Samadhis

310. Truth consists in [knowing] the five Dharmas and also the three Svabhavas; when the
Yogin thus comprehends [the truth], he does not transgress Tathata.

[Chapter 83] p194  ”[When these are thoroughly comprehended] by the Yogins, they enter into the course of the Tathagatha’s inner realisation, where they are kept away from such views as eternalism and nihilism, realism and negativism...”

204  The Five Factors of Enlightenment Practice

310. Truth consists in [knowing] the five Dharmas and also the three Svabhavas; when the
Yogin thus comprehends [the truth], he does not transgress Tathata.

205  The Abode of Happiness of the Present Moment

[Section 83 ( LXXXIII in Chapter 6 p.193)]

At that time, Mahamati the Bodhisattva-Mahasattva made a request of the Blessed One,
saying: Pray tell me, Blessed One; pray tell me, Sugata, concerning the distinguishing aspects
of the five Dharmas, the [three] Svabhavas, the [eight] Vijnanas, and the twofold egolessness.
By [recognising] the distinguishing aspects of the twofold egolessness, I and other
Bodhisattva-Mahasattvas will be able to establish those truths while effecting a continuous development through the various stages of Bodhisattvahood. It is said that by these truths we can enter into all the Buddha-truths, and that by entering into all the Buddha-truths we can enter even into the ground of the Tathagata's inner realisation.

Said the Blessed One: Then, Mahamati, listen well and reflect well within yourself; I will tell you.

Certainly, Blessed One, said Mahamati the Bodhisattva-Mahasattva and gave ear to the Blessed One.

The Blessed One said this to him: Mahamati, I will tell you about the distinguishing aspects of the five Dharmas, the [three] Svabhavas, the [eight] Vijnanas, and the twofold egolessness.
The five Dharmas are: name, form, discrimination, right knowledge, and suchness. [When these are thoroughly comprehended] by the Yogins, they enter into the course of the
Tathagata's inner realisation, where they are kept away from such views as eternalism and nihilism, realism and negativism, and where they come face to face with the abode of happiness belonging to the present existence as well as to the Samapatti (tranquillisation).

But, Mahamati, as the ignorant do not understand that the five Dharmas, the [three]
Svabhavas, the [eight] Vijnanas, and the twofold egolessness, together with the external objects which are regarded as existent and nonexistent— [all these are no more than] what is seen of the Mind itself—they are given to discrimination, but it is otherwise with the wise.

206 The Water-Wheel of Ignorance

[Section 83 ( LXXXIII in Chapter 6 p.194)]

Said Mahamati: How is it that the ignorant are given up to discrimination and the wise are not?

Said the Blessed One: Mahamati, the ignorant cling to names, ideas, and signs; their minds move along [these channels]. As thus they move along, they feed on multiplicities of objects, and fall into the notion of an ego-soul and what belongs to it, and cling to salutary appearances.

As thus they cling, there is a reversion to ignorance, and they become tainted, karma born of greed, anger, and folly is accumulated. As karma is accumulated again and again, their minds become swathed in the cocoon of discrimination as the silk-worm; and, transmigrating in the ocean of birth-and-death (gati), they are unable, like the water-drawing wheel, to move forward.

And because of folly, they do not understand that all things are like Maya, a mirage, the moon in water, and have no self-substance to be imagined as an ego-soul and its belongings;
that things rise from their false discrimination; that they are devoid of qualified and qualifying; and have nothing to do with the course of birth, abiding, and destruction; that they are born of the discrimination of what is only seen of the Mind itself; and assert that they are born of Isvara, time, atoms, or a supreme spirit, for they follow names and appearances.

Mahamati, the ignorant move along with appearances.

Further, Mahamati, by "appearance" is meant that which reveals itself to the visual sense and is perceived as form, and in like manner that which, appearing to the sense of hearing, smelling, tasting, the body, and the Manovijnana, is perceived as sound, odour, taste, tactility, and idea, - all this I call "appearance."

Further, Mahamati, by "discrimination" is meant that by which names are declared, and there is thus the indicating of [various] appearances. Saying that this is such and no other, for instance, saying that this is an elephant, a horse, a wheel, a pedestrian, a woman, or a man, each idea thus discriminated is so determined.

Further, Mahamati, by "right knowledge" is meant this: when names and appearances are seen as unobtainable owing to their mutual conditioning, there is no more rising of the Vijnanas, for nothing comes to annihilation, nothing abides everlastingly; and when there is thus no falling back into the stage of the philosophers, Sravakas, and Pratyekabuddhas, it is said that there is right knowledge.

Further, Mahamati, by reason of this right knowledge, the Bodhisattva-Mahasattva does not regard name as reality and appearance as non-reality. When erroneous views based on the dualistic notion of assertion and negation are gotten rid of, and when the Vijnanas cease to rise as regards the objective world of names and appearances, this I call "suchness." Mahamati, a Bodhisattva-Mahasattva who is established on suchness attains the state of imagelessness and thereby attains the Bodhisattva-stage of Joy (pramudita). When [the Bodhisattva] attains the stage of Joy, he is kept away from all the evil courses belonging to the philosophers and enters upon the path of supra-worldly truths. When [all] the conditions [of truth] are brought to consummation, he discerns that the course of all things starts with the notion of Maya, etc.; and after the attainment of the noble truth of self-realisation, he earnestly desires to put a stop to speculative theorisation; and going up in succession through the stages of Bodhisattvahood he finally reaches the stage of Dharma-Cloud (dharmamegha). After being at the stage of Dharma-Cloud, he reaches as far as the stage of Tathagatahood where the flowers of the Samadhis, powers, self-control, and psychic faculties are in bloom. After reaching here, in order to bring all beings to maturity, he shines like the moon in water, with varieties of rays of transformation. Perfectly fulfilling1 the [ten] inexhaustible vows, he preaches the Dharma to all beings according to their various understandings. As the Bodhisattva-Mahasattvas, Mahamati, have entered into suchness, they attain the body which is free from the will and thought-constructions.

Again, Mahamati said: Are the three Svabhavas to be regarded as included in the five
Dharmas, or as having their own characteristics complete in themselves?

The Blessed One said: The three Svabhavas, the eight Vijnanas, and the twofold egolessness—they are all included [in the five Dharmas]. Of these, name and appearance are known as the Parikalpita [false imagination]. Then, Mahamati, discrimination which rises depending upon them, is the notion of an ego-soul and what belongs to it, —the notion and the discrimination are of simultaneous occurrence, like the rising of the sun and its rays.
Mahamati, the discrimination thus supporting the notion of self-nature which subsists in the multiplicities of objects, is called the Paratantra [dependence on another]. Right knowledge and suchness, Mahamati, are indestructible, and thus they are known as Parinishpanna [perfect knowledge].

Further, Mahamati, by adhering to what is seen of the Mind itself there is an eightfold discrimination. This comes from imagining unreal individual appearances [as real].
When the twofold clinging to an ego-soul and what belongs to it is stopped, there is the birth of the twofold egolessness. Mahamati, in these five Dharmas are included all the Buddha truths and also the differentiation and succession of the [Bodhisattva-] stages, and the entrance of the Sravakas, Pratyekabuddhas, Bodhisattvas, and Tathagatas into the state of self-realisation by means of their noble wisdom.

207  The Light of the Mind 

311. It is a man's mind that is perceived as something resembling (samnibham) the form of a star, a cloud, a moon, a sun; and what is thus perceived by them is born of habit-energy.

208 Rupa

312. The elements are devoid of selfhood, there is neither qualified nor qualifying in them; if all element-made objects were the elements, form (rupa) would be element-made.

313. The elements are uniform, there are no element-made objects in the elements; the elements are the cause; the earth, water, etc. are the result.

314. Substances and forms of thought-construction are like things born of Maya; they appear like a dream and a city of the Gandharvas, they are a mirage and a fifth.

209  The Icchantika

315. There are five kinds of the Icchantika, so with the families which are five; there are five vehicles and no-vehicle, and six kinds of Nirvana.

[Section XXII p.58]

Again, Mahamati, how is it that the Icchantika never awaken the desire for emancipation?
Because they have abandoned all the stock of merit, and because they cherish certain vows for all beings since beginningless time. What is meant by abandoning all the stock of merit? It refers to [those Buddhists] who have abandoned the Bodhisattva collection [of the canonical texts], making the false accusation that they are not in conformity with the sutras, the codes of morality, and the emancipation. By this they have forsaken all the stock of merit and will not enter into Nirvana. Secondly again, Mahamati, there are Bodhisattva-Mahasattvas who, on account of their original vows made for all beings, saying, "So long as they do not attain Nirvana, I will not attain it myself," keep themselves away from Nirvana.

This, Mahamati, is the reason of their not entering into Nirvana, and because of this they go on the way of the Icchantika.

Again, Mahamati said; Who, Blessed One, would never enter Nirvana?
The Blessed One replied: Knowing that all things are in Nirvana itself from the very beginning, the Bodhisattva-Icchantika would never enter Nirvana. But those Icchantikas who have forsaken all the stock of merit [finally] do. Those Icchantikas, Mahamati, who have forsaken all the stock of merit might someday be influenced by the power of the Tathagatas and be induced at any moment to foster the stock of merit. Why? Because, Mahamati, no beings are left aside by the Tathagatas. For this reason, Mahamati, it is the Bodhisattva -Icchantika who never enters into Nirvana.

210 Families of Buddhists

315. There are five kinds of the Icchantika, so with the families which are five; there are five vehicles and no-vehicle, and six kinds of Nirvana.

[See p217 of the Studies]