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Wisdom of Buddha Wisdom of Buddha The Samdhinirmocana Sutra Translated by John Powers Dharma Publishing TIBETAN TRANSLATION SERIES 1. Calm and Clear 2. The Legend of the Great Stupa 3. Mind in Buddhist Psychology 4. Golden Zephyr (Nāgārjuna) 5. Kindly Bent to Ease Us, Parts 1-3 6. Elegant Sayings (Nāgārjuna, Sakya Pandita) 7. The Life and Liberation ofPadmasambhava 8. Buddha's Lions: Lives of the 84 Siddhas 9. The Voice of the Buddha (Lalitavistara Sūtra) 10. The Marvelous Companion (Jātakamālā) 11. Mother of Knowledge: Enlightenment ofYeshe Tshogyal 12. The Dhammapada (Teachings on 26 Topics) 13. The Fortunate Aeon (Bhadrakalpika Sūtra) 14. Master of Wisdom (Nāgārjuna) 15. Joy for the World (Candrakīrti) 16. Wisdom of Buddha (Samdhinirmocana Sūtra) Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Tripkaka. Samdhini^mocanasūt^a. English Wisdom of Buddha : the Samdhinirmocana Sūtra / translated by John Powers. p. cm. - (Tibetan translation series.) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-89800-247-8. - ISBN 0-89800-246-X (pbk.) I. Title. II. Series BQ2092.E5 1994 294.3'85-dc20 94-25023 CIP Copyright ©1995 by Dharma Publishing. All rights reserved. No part of this book, including text, art, reproductions, and illustrations, may be copied, reproduced, published, or stored electronically, photo- graphically, or optically in any form without the express written consent of Dharma Publishing, 2425 Hillside Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94704 USA Frontispiece: Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art Gift of Joseph H. Heil, 1970 (1970.298.1) This publication was sponsored by a generous donation from Michael Gray. Printed in the United States of America by Dharma Press Typeset in ITC Zapf Book Light with WP Murray Hill initials 987654321 May this meritorious action liberate all sentient beings from samsāra and establish them on the Bodhisattva path Contents Preface xiii Introduction xv The Setting and Chapter One: The Chapter of Gambhīrārthasamdhinirmocana 3 Chapter Two: The Questions of Dharmodgata 23 Chapter Three: The Questions of Suviśuddhamati 3 3 Chapter Four: The Questions of Subhūti 51 Chapter Five: The Questions of Viśālamati 67 Chapter Six: The Questions of Gunākara 79 Chapter Seven: The Questions of Paramārthasamudgata 93 Chapter Eight: The Questions of Maitreya 147 Chapter Nine: The Questions of Avalokiteśvara 219 Chapter Ten: The Questions of Mañjuśrī 273 Notes 313 Abbreviations 371 Bibliography 373 Glossary 384 Index 386 Preface /^TNuddhism teaches that life is precious. If we wish to use O our limited time on earth to create a truly meaningful existence, there is no better foundation than the Dharma, the teachings of the Buddha. The Buddha taught for almost fifty years, and although many of his teachings have been lost over the millennia, thou- sands of texts have been preserved in Sanskrit, Pali, Tibetan, and Chinese, bringing the wisdom of the Dharma to many lands. Only a few hundred of these texts have been translated into Western languages. Each new translation reveals further aspects of the Buddha's realization, confirming the value of the Dharma and the depth and richness of the teachings. With this publication, the Samdhinirmocana Sūtra be- comes available in its entirety in English for the first time. Considered a Sūtra of definitive meaning, the Samdhinirmo- cana is among the extraordinary teachings that the Buddha gave to the advanced Bodhisattvas. Its brilliance illuminates ideas and practices of great depth and subtlety. Vast in scope, the Samdhinirmocana is rich in profound meaning that cannot be fully fathomed in one reading. How- ever, patient study, reflection, and rereading will evoke clear insight into the Buddha's awakened vision. Conveying the deep and subtle meanings of a text such as the Samdhinirmocana into clear, readable English is a de- manding task. Buddhist terminology and perspectives are still unfamiliar to the West, and the vocabulary available cannot always convey the ideas being expressed. In the eighth and ninth centuries, when the Dharma was being transmitted to Tibet, Indian parkas and Tibetan lotsāwas worked together to establish uniform standards of translation. As similar efforts are carried out in the West, the challenge of communi- cating the heart of the Dharma teachings will become easier and the results more accurate. I hope that the present transla- tion will inspire efforts in this direction. For over twenty years Dharma Publishing has been dedi- cated to producing Buddhist books and art of the highest quality. Although a work such as this has a very limited audi- ence and is quite difficult to produce, I am confident that the immeasurable virtue of the wisdom that the text contains makes it infinitely worth the effort. I would like to thank the translator, John Powers, for his careful work. My thanks go as well to the Dharma Publishing editors and production staff, especially Sylvia Gretchen, who worked closely with Dr. Powers to prepare the translation for publication. There is no doubt that the meritorious action of making this wonderful Sūtra available to the English-reading world will benefit many living beings. SarvaA Mañgalam Tarthang Tulku September 1994 jciv Preface Introduction ne of the most influential texts in Indian Mahayana © Buddhist literature, the Samdhini^mocana Sūtra presents a wealth of teachings central to all Buddhist practice and phi- losophy. Its explications of the meaning of the ultimate, the basis-consciousness (ālaya-vijñāna), and the doctrine of cogni- tion-only (vijñapti-mātra) have had a major impact in every country where Mahāyāna Buddhism has flourished, includ- ing India, Tibet, Mongolia, China, Korea, and Japan. The teachings of the Buddha demonstrate how our com- mon modes of viewing reality and our habitual ways of living and relating to the world are fundamentally mistaken. While Christian philosophy traditionally identifies the root of our existential problems as original sin, the Buddha taught that ignorance is more fundamental than sin, for through igno- rance we unwittingly commit actions that result in harm to ourselves and others. This ignorance clouds the continuum of each and every being who is not a Buddha, and can be overcome only through individual effort. The Samdhinirmocana Sūtra tells us how the full force of our mental and physical faculties can be harnessed for this task. Comprehensive and multifaceted, the text details the world view, stages, and yogic practices necessary for trans- forming even the most subtle manifestations of ignorance. The reader is guided on a path that leads to mental balance, insight into the nature of reality, and deep commitment to work selflessly for the benefit of other beings. Summary of the Te^ct Like many Sutras, the text recounts a series of questions and answers between the Buddha and his followers, or, in the case of chapter one, between two Bodhisattvas. Except for chapter four, where the Śrāvaka Subhūti questions the Buddha, all of the interlocutors are highly developed Bodhi- sattvas. Their questions and the Buddha's answers go to the very heart of the practice or issue being discussed, fully expli- cating profound and subtle meanings. The setting in which the Buddha teaches the Sūtra is described as a vast celestial palace that fills countless worldly realms with its brilliance and surpasses all other dwellings. This wondrous palace reflects the supreme spiritual attain- ments of the Buddha, who created it, and the aspirations of all its inhabitants, who are Dharma practitioners of a high level of development. The Sūtra may be divided into five main parts. The first four chapters present the ultimate and how it is to be under- stood by trainees. Chapter five is an analysis of conscious- ness; chapters six and seven discuss the relative character of phenomena and of teachings as they are illuminated by definitive understanding. The path to enlightenment is the subject of the eighth and ninth chapters, which focus on meditative practices and the methods for mastering the men- tal afflictions and obstacles that undermine progress on the path. Chapter ten is a discussion of the nature of a Buddha, the final goal of yogic practice. jcvi Introduction The Bodhisattva Gambhlrarthasamdhinirmocana charac- terizes the ultimate as "ineffable and of a non-dual character" in chapter one. The ultimate pervades all reality but cannot be described in words or understood by conceptual thought. It is realized only by Āryas, those who have attained the path of seeing and are able to perceive the ultimate directly. In chapter two the Bodhisattva Dharmodgata describes a debate on the ultimate character of phenomena that he wit- nessed among proponents of various Tīrthika systems. The Bodhisattva laments their divergent opinions, doubts, and misconceptions and marvels at the Buddha's realization and actualization of the ultimate, "whose character completely transcends all argumentation." In response, the Buddha teaches that the ultimate is realized individually, is signless, inexpressible, devoid of the conventional, and free from all dispute. Beings caught up in desire, discursiveness, and the conventions of seeing, hearing, differentiating, and perceiv- ing, as well as beings engaged in dispute, cannot even imag- ine what the ultimate is like. In chapter three, the Bodhisattva Suviśuddhamati points out that even Bodhisattvas disagree about the ultimate: Some believe the character of the ultimate and the character of the compounded are the same; others believe them to be differ- ent. Through a series of
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